Paris – Roman Lutetia – the city of Light!
There is something rather special about Paris in the springtime.
As soon as the colder and wetter weather of winter has subsided the Parisians start to re-open their pavement cafés and boutiques and the city seems to burst into life like the first buds of spring. No wonder Paris has gained a reputation as one of the most romantic cities in the world.
Today Paris is a thriving, cosmopolitan, high tech modern city that thankfully still retains that deep sense of history and culture that draws millions of tourists every year. Little did those ancient Romans realise when they discovered a small river fishing village on an island in 55BC that this would one day become one of the world’s greatest cities. The river was called the Seine and the small island ‘Isle de la Cite’, today the very heart of this vast metropolis.
The Romans called Paris ‘Lutetia’ or city of light, a name that can still be found across the city from hotels to restaurants to shops and bars. The Romans built many fine buildings on the left bank of the Seine including public baths, temples, theatres and even a vast 10,000 seat entertainments arena. Sadly most of these buildings were destroyed though archaeologists have identified a few sites where the remains can still be seen today.
It was the Frankish people that named the city Paris after the Romans had departed in the 5th century AD, naming the city after the Parisii tribe who originally inhabited the region and designating the city as the very centre of their kingdom. The power of the Franks culminated in the rise of Charlemagne, a charismatic poet, singer and warrior that led his vast army into Italy and Germany and carved out a huge kingdom for Gaul, a kingdom that would soon change its name to France.
The heart of France, Paris, soon began to flourish beyond the boundaries of the small Isle de la Cite and by medieval times had become a centre of learning attracting scholars from all over Europe to study at the prestigious Sorbonne University. The city began to grow in size attracting traders, craftsmen and visitors in their thousands. Guilds of masons started to build magnificent structures around this time like the iconic Notre Dame that began in 1163 and took two hundred years to complete.
Despite its growing reputation as a centre of culture and learning Paris also had a much darker side with many common people suffering from plagues, starvation and the problems created by the ‘Hundred Years War’ with England. Paris though somehow managed to survive all manner of problems, wars and invasions, each time growing stronger and more powerful.
By the time of the Renaissance Paris was recognised throughout the civilised world as the centre for culture and new ideas and during the rule of Louis the fourteenth it grew to be a city of immense wealth and power. Great Architects like Hausmann designed new grand boulevards like the Champs Elysees and knocked down the dirty medieval slums in order to build grand new palaces and shopping streets.
Not without conflict Paris managed to survive through two bloody revolutions each time managing to reinvent itself and by 1850 it was replacing the older wooden houses with elegant new avenues and tree lined boulevards. Flamboyant architecture both gothic and classical flourished throughout the city with new bridges, libraries, civic halls, fountains and statues.
Today Paris is a melting pot of the old and the new. It is the most visited city in the world and remains as popular as ever. Whether you want to explore the haunts of the Impressionists in quaint Montmartre, visit the magnificent Louvre, climb the Eiffel tower, take a boat trip along the Seine, wander through the magnificent Tuileries gardens or just sit outside one of the countless street cafe’s with a frothy coffee Paris in the Springtime is magical and has something for absolutely everyone.
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