english version version française

Home Paris Art and culture Attractions of paris

ATTRACTIONS OF PARIS

 

THE EIFFEL TOWER News :

With 80.000 more visitors than in 2006, the Eiffel Tower welcomed nearly
7 millions of people in 2007 (6.893.000 exacly), among them were more than 2.000 students from ACCORD school !

Champs de Mars M° Bir Hakeim

COMPETITION EIFFEL 2008

 

A future companion for the Eiffel Tower !

The institution of the Eiffel Tower company has just launched a competition, specifically aimed at architectural students.
The students must imagine a very tall structure which would be constructed on the Champs de Mars or even on the same spot as the Eiffel Tower.
The results of the competition will be announced in December 2008 and shown in a catalog.

www.fondationsocietetoureiffel.org

In 1887, Gustave Eiffel won a competition to design a tower for the 1889 World’s Fair. At the time the 300 metre tall tower was the tallest structure in the world, and the source of much controversy. Nothing could take away, however, from the success of that World’s Fair and of the tower, which over the years and the different uses to which it has been put (radio and television antenna, international time service) has become the best known symbol of Paris.

The tower weighs 7,000 tonnes, contains 12,000 pieces of iron and is held together by 2,500,000 rivets, which were put in place by acrobatic climbers.
The Eiffel Tower now measures 324 metres, including a television antenna affixed to the top, and receives over 6,368,534 visitors a year (1999).

- 1889 (height with flag): 312,27 m
- 1991 (height with antenna): 317,96 m
- 1994 (height with antenna): 318,70 m
- 2000 (height with antenna): 324m

1665 steps lead to the summit of this great tower (originally 1710), which fits in perfectly with the Parisian landscape.

Tel: 01 44 11 23 45
Open: September – June 9.30 - 23.00, July – August 09.00 – 24.00 every day (payment on admission)

THE LOUVRE M° Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre

Open:
09.00 – 21.30 Wednesday - Monday
(payment on admittance)
Tél : 01 47 70 86 86 Fax : 01 47 70 86 87

In 1200 Philippe Auguste had established himself on île de la Cité and there by the River Seine, he erected his fortress, as well as a moat surrounding the walls of his new stronghold. The fort was situated in the northwest of what is now the Cour Carrée and one can still see the vestiges of the structure today, in the archaeological crypt of the museum.

After the Etienne Marcel insurrection, Charles V decided in 1358 to turn the Louvre into the royal residence – all the while maintaining its military defences. His successors preferred the Hôtel St Paul and the Hôtel des Tournelles to the Louvre. François I had the moat removed and conferred upon Pierre Lescot the task of transforming the Louvre into a Renaissance palace. The works were not finished when François I died in 1547. The west and south wings were finished under the reign of Henri II.

Upon the death of Henri II, Catherine de Medici took up residence in the Louvre and thought of linking the palace to the Tuileries, an area that she wished to transform into an Italian-style park. These works would only begin, however, under the reign of Henri IV in 1594, who decided on the construction of a great gallery to compliment the existing small gallery.

In 1659 Louis VIII had Lemercier and Levau construct the clock pavilion. The length of the pavilion increased when Louis XIV decided to extend the Louvre and commissioned Levau to quadruple the surface area of the Cour Carrée, after which he hired Le Nôtre to increase the size of the jardins des Tuileries as well. Despite having set all these works in motion, Louis XIV ultimately decided to take up residence in the Château de Versailles. Only after the events of the revolution did Bonaparte have the place du Carrousel enlarged and there built an Arc de Triomphe. He also ordered the construction of the wing that runs along the rue de Rivoli, but these works were halted during the restoration, and would only be continued under Napoleon III, with the help of Visconti.

During the Paris Commune in 1871, the Tuileries gardens were burned and Lefuel was given the task in 1882 of reconstructing the De Flore and De Marsan pavilions. In modern times the Louvre has undergone many further modifications to become the largest museum in the world, in 1988 Pei’s pyramid was added to symbolise the alliance of the Louvre with modern times.

LE PANTHEON Place du Panthéon (5è)
M° Cardinal Lemoine
RER Luxembourg

Louis XIV decided to construct a church dedicated to St Genevieve after making a vow on his sickbed. He conferred upon the architect Soufflot the task of elaborating the plans for a magnificent building. Construction began in 1757 but Soufflot died before the work was completed in 1789.

Louis XV décide la construction d'une église dédiée à Ste-Geneviève après un vou de guérison et il confie à l'architecte Soufflot le soin d'élaborer les plans de . La construction commence en 1757 mais Soufflot meurt avant l'expiration des travaux en 1789.

The building is in the shape of a Greek cross, topped by a great lantern-bearing dome. 130m long, 82m wide and 83m tall, the dimensions and its neoclassic style (Corinthian columns supporting the peristyle; reminiscent of the pantheon of Rome) bear witness to the architecture of the time and its appreciation for grandeur.

The church of St Genevieve was transformed during the revolution into a temple dedicated to the great men of the state, as indicated by the inscription on the front of the building or the bas relief, which depicts the fatherland bestowing laurels upon the heads of its great sons: "Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante".

Mirabeau was the first great man to be inhumed in the Panthéon, the ashes of Voltaire and Rousseau were housed there. The building returned to its original function in 1885 upon the funeral ceremony of Victor Hugo, when it was permanently designated a temple. Pierre and Marie Curie were the last to be inhumed in this highly symbolic place.

More information