Haussmann's renovation of Paris was a vast public works programme commissioned by French Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870.
Napoleon III instructed Haussmann to bring air and light to the centre of Paris, to unify the different neighbourhoods with boulevards, and to make Paris more beautiful. The Avenue de l'Opéra, created by Haussmann, painted by Camille Pissarro, 1898.
Georges-Eugène Haussmann, prefect of Seine under Napoleon III from 1853 until 1870
Windows and balconies of a typical Haussmannian building on Rue Soufflot
The Rue des Marmousets, one of the narrow and dark medieval streets on the Île de la Cité, in the 1850s. The site is near the Hôtel-Dieu (General Hospital on the Île de la Cité).
Napoleon III
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Napoleon III was the first President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first elected president, second emperor, and the last
Haussmann's renovation of Paris
…of Paris (known in French as the travaux haussmanniens, , lit. 'Haussmannian works') was a vast public works programme commissioned by French Emperor Napoleon III and directed by his prefect of Seine, Georges-Eugène Haussmann, between 1853 and 1870. It included the demolition of medieval neighbourhoods that were…
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