Paris Landmarks
Eiffel Tower.
Mars” (Mars Field) in the Seine river shore. Constructed in 1889 for the Universal Exposition, today, it is the classic symbol of Paris.
The tower was designed by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel. It has got three stages placed over some great iron and concrete foundations and everyone contain restaurants, shops and viewpoints. Its metal exterior structure is considered today as a typical construction system, however, in nineteenth century, people saw it as an iron absurd monster building.
The history of Eiffel Tower began five years before its construction. Politic interests were participants every Universal Exposition and Paris was the host in 1889´s. While this events was being prepared, two Eiffel´s engineers, Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier were studying the idea of a enormous iron tower. At first Eiffel was not very interested in that project, but the final designs made him change his mind. After a hard contest, Koechlin and Nouguier building was chosen to be build for the exposition and Gustave Eiffel spend so much money as he could in it, so Gustave´s merit was not the design of the tower; it was his investment!
Triumphal Arch.
The Triumphal Arch of Paris was built by Napoleon between 1806 and 1836 after Austerlitz battle, when he promised his soldiers to “return home under triumphal arches”.
Its architects were inspired by Tito´s Arch in Rome. It is forty-nine meters high and forty-five meters wide. The arch has got four reliefs which symbolize Triumph, Resistance, Peace and “La Marseillaise”( the French anthem); and it honors the Revolutionaries of 1789, Napoleon military victories and his army generals.
Now, the Triumphal Arch has got a museum inside, that tells its history and construction; and it has got a viewpoint in the top, too.
Montmartre and the “Sacré Coeur”´s (Sacred Hearth) basilica.
Until 1860, Montmartre was a village kwon for its mills and a single commune (the littlest territory division in France), but in that year, Paris annexed it. Since that time, this neighborhood has developed as an artistic and commercial zone. Also, its basilica, “Sacré Coeur” was finished in 1912 to honor the French-Prussian War victims of 1871.
Mid-twentieth century, Montmartre began to be inhabited by artists. The most of all those artists were poor people who lived miserably during the French Bohemia (Picasso, Modigliani, Van Gogh, etc). Now, many street artists send their works to wayfarers and tourists in .the neighborhood.
On the other hand, there is the “Sacré Coeur” basilica, one of the most visited sights in Paris.
It was built copying Byzantine and Roman architectures by believers donations.
Montmartre has been declared as “historic district” in Paris.
Versailles Palace.
Versailles Palace was the royal residence of some French kings since seventeenth century (1661). The palace was (today, too) placed in the municipality that has the same name in “Île-de-France”.
The construction was ordered by the king Louis XIV because he deicded to leave th Louvre in Paris to live far away from the problems of the city in the village of Versailles.The king and his descendants built and remodeled the castle adding rooms (Mirrors´ Room, the Trianon, the War Lounge, etc.), gardens, etc.
After the Revolution in 1789, it was used by other royal dynasties (Bourbon, Orleans,) who governed, by Prussian in 1870 as their Army Headquarters during the siege, by French govern for the Versailles Treaty in First World War end, etc.
Nowadays, the Republic Presidency receive there foreign politicians .
“La Conciergerie” (politic prison)
“La Conciergerie” was built in XIV century, in Middle Ages, and it was originally the King´s Palace until the French court moved to Louvre´s. Then, the castle became a state prison.
“La Conciergerie” is known because the queen Marie Antoinette spent her last days before she was killed in the guillotine during French Revolution, even Robespierre maybe stayed there before his death.. The frightening history of the prison includes the September Slaughter in 1792, when in five days, about two thousands and five hundreds prisoners who stayed there were guillitoned.
Now, the prison is a part of the Paris Justice Palace and it is enjoyed by hundreds of tourists.
“Les Invalides”
“Les Invalides” means “the disabled people”. Its is a valuable building complex constructed in 1676 as a royal residence for military people and soldiers who had been left the army because of their wounds or their age.
“Les Invalides” has got a round mausoleum where Napoleon Tomb rests and tell his victories and achievements . The other rooms are museums like the “Army´s Museum”, the “Freedom Museum” and the “Reliefs and Flats Museum; some religious temples; and the Military Hospital, “L´Hôpital des Invalides”.
“Les Invalides” has got a great architectonic value.
Important Squares (Bastille´s Square and the “Place de la Concorde”).
The Bastille´s Square is the place where the famous politic prison called “Saint Antoine´s Bastille” or , simply, the Bastille, was until it was destroyed during the French Revolution. In this square many protests took place in the past and for some days in 1794, the guillotine was put there. Today, there is no the Bastille in the square, there are a column called “Julius Column”, an Opera and the rests of the prison on the pavement.
The “Place de la Concorde”, the ancient Revolution´s Square was the stage of death during French Revolution. There, the guillotine was put the most and 1200 people were killed. After the Revolution, the “Place de la Concorde” was renamed as its actual name. Nowadays, the square, one of the biggest ones in France has got a great Egyptian monument, the Obelisk of Luxor and two Roman Style Fountains.
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