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PARIS |
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2.144.700 |
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Paris
is the capital and largest city of France. Straddling the river
Seine in the country's north, it is a major global cultural and
political centre in addition to being the world's most visited city.
Nicknamed "the City of Light"
(la Ville Lumière) since the 19th century, the city of Paris
also has a reputation as a "romantic" city and the "heart
of Europe". The most recognisable symbol of Paris is the 324
metre (1,063 ft) brown metal Eiffel Tower located on the banks of
the Seine. Paris is also internationally renowned for its defining
neoclassical architecture and its influence in fashion and the arts.
As one of the main cultural and political
centers in Europe since the early Middle Ages, Paris contains many
vestiges from its past including numerous art galleries, museums
and theatres. More recently, it has grown into a significant centre
of international trade with ever-growing modern business districts,
including La Défense, which forms a secondary city centre.
Paris hosts the headquarters of many international trade and social
organisations, including the OECD and UNESCO in addition to the
head offices of nearly half of all French companies and offices
of many major international firms.
The city of Paris within its administrative
limits has an estimated 2004 population of 2,144,700, but over
the last century the city has grown well beyond its administrative
boundaries, so that the population of Paris urban area (the contiguous
built-up area) is estimated at 9.9 million in 2005 and the population
of Paris metropolitan area (also including satellite cities) is
estimated at 11.6 million people in 2005. The Île-de-France
région, of which Paris is the capital, produces over a quarter
of France's wealth, with a GDP of nearly €450 billion.
Today Paris
is one of the world's major transport destinations because of its
financial, cultural, political, and tourism activities. It is often
listed as one of the four major global cities along with New York,
London and Tokyo.
Places
of interest
The
Eiffel Tower:

The Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel, in French)
is a structure constructed by French engineer Gustave Eiffel in
occasion of the universal Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, a world-wide fair organized to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. It has a
height of 324 meters with a weight (just constructed) of 7,300 tons,
although nowadays its weight in more calculates than 10,000 (due
to the museum, restaurants, warehouses and stores that lodges at
the present time).
It was predicted that the tower reached the 350 meters, but the
neighbors were scared (by the threat of which a so high and constructed
building without hardly stones could fall) and they pronounced,
causing a change of plans.
The 24 last meters correspond to a television antenna that was added
much later. Constructed in controversy with the artists of the time,
who saw it like a steel monster, it is considered without doubt
like the unquestionable symbol of France and the city of Paris in
individual, being the visited monument more of the world. The original
color of the tower was the yellow, although nowadays it is not left
anything of him.
The structure was constructed between years 1887 and 1889. The tower was inaugurated the 31 of March of 1889, and was opened to the public the 6 of May of that year. Near 200 workers they united 18,038 iron pieces, using two million and means of bolts, and following the design structural of Maurice Koechlin. The risk of accidents in the construction was high, since unlike the modern skyscrapers, the tower is a structure opened without intermediate floors, with the exception of the two platforms.
Nevertheless, and thanks to the precautions of Eiffel towards their workers (who included the use of harnesses), single one of them passed away during the installation of the elevators. According to the environmental temperature, the peak of the Eiffel Tower can approach or move away of the ground about 8 centimeters, due to the thermal expansion of the metal that composes it.
According to the official site of the monument, to reach the top it is necessary to cross 1665 steps (and not 1792, number that some take by the way in reference to the year of the First Republic). The maintenance of the tower includes the application of 50 tons metric of painting every 7 years, with the object of protecting it of the corrosion.
Sometimes, the color of the painting changes, although at the moment, the tower shows a brown tonality. In first stage, there are consoles that allow to vote in the election of the future color of the structure.
Triumphal Arch:

Is a monument in Paris that stands in
the centre of the Place de l'Étoile, at the western end of
the Champs-Élysées. It is the linchpin of the historic axis (L'Axe
historique) leading from the courtyard of the Louvre Palace, a sequence
of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route leading out of Paris.
The monument's iconographic program pitted heroically nude French
youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail and set the
tone for public monuments with triumphant nationalistic messages
until World War I. The monument stands over
51 metres (165 feet) in height and is 45 metres wide. It is the
second largest triumphal arch in existence (North Korea built a
slightly larger Arch of Triumph in 1982 for the 70th birthday of
Kim Il-Sung); the Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that an early daredevil
flew his plane through it.
It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Napoleon
Bonaparte at the peak of his fortunes and finally completed -
after a long pause during the Restoration - in the reign of
King Louis-Philippe, in 1833-36. The sculpture representing Peace
was now interpreted as commemorating the Peace of 1815, not
the original intention.
The astylar design is
by Jean Chalgrin (1739-1811), in the Neoclassical version of ancient
Roman architecture. Major academic sculptors of France are represented
in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Cortot, Rude, Étex,
Pradier and Lemaire. The main sculptures are not integral friezes
but are treated as independent trophies applied to the vast ashlar
masonry masses, not unlike the gilt-bronze appliqués on Empire
furniture.
The four sculptural groups at the base of the Arc are The Triumph
of 1810 (Jean-Pierre Cortot), Resistance and Peace (both by Antoine
Étex) and the most renowned of them all, Departure of the
Volunteers of '92 commonly called La Marseillaise (François
Rude). The face of the allegorical representation of France calling
forth her people on this last was used as the belt buckle for the
seven-star rank of Marshal of France.
In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are
30 shields engraved with the names of major Revolutionary and Napoleonic
military victories. The inside walls of the monument list the names
of 558 French generals. The names of those who died in battle are
underlined.
The Place
de l'Étoile was extensively redesigned by Baron Haussmann,
who increased the number of avenues radiating from this star to
twelve. In the 1860s he ran a circular road (rue de Tilsitt-Presbourg)
round the outside of the houses fronting the Étoile, a planning
feature intended to free the Place itself from the crush of carriages
that might be expected where so many stylish tenants lived so closely
together. Haussmann imposed a uniform design on the house fronts
with small gardens at the back giving on to this circular road.
Haussmann's memoirs publicly noted that the official facade
design, from Hittorff in his own office, was so poor that he had
to mask the fronts with trees. But the uniformity complements the
Arc's monumental presence. The traffic problem was not resolved,
however.
The sword carried by the Republic in the Marseillaise
relief broke off, on the day, it is said, that the Battle of Verdun
began in 1916. The relief was immediately hidden by tarpaulins to
conceal the accident and avoid any undesired ominous interpretations.
Famous victory marches past the Arc included the Germans in 1871,
the French in 1918, the Germans in 1940, and the French and Allies
in 1944 and 1945. Charles de Gaulle survived an attack upon him
at the Arc during a parade.
Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First
World War. Interred here on Armistice Day 1920, it has the first
eternal flame lit in Western Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire
was extinguished in the year 391. It burns in memory of the dead
who were never identified, now in both World Wars. France took the
example of the United Kingdom's tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster
Abbey.
A ceremony is held there every November 11 on the anniversary of
the armistice signed between France and Germany in 1918. It was
originally decided in November 12, 1919 to bury the unknown soldier's
remains in the Panthéon, but a public letter-writing campaign
led to the decision to bury him beneath the Arc.
The coffin was put in the chapel on the first floor of the Arc on
November 10, 1920, and put in its final resting place on January
28, 1921. The slab on top carries the inscription ICI REPOSE UN
SOLDAT FRANÇAIS MORT POUR LA PATRIE 1914-1918 ("Here
lies a French soldier who died for his country 1914-1918").
Notre Dame Cathedral:

The Notre-Dame
Cathedral of Paris (Cathédrale Notre-Dame) is one of the
older French cathedrals of gothic style. Dedicated to Maria, Mother
of Jesus Christ (of there the Notre-Dame name - Our Lady), locates
itself in the Parvis seat, the small Island of Cite' in Paris, France,
and surrounded by waters of the Seine river.
The cathedral arises intimately bound to the idea from the gothic
splendor, to clear effect of the necessities and aspirations of
the society of the time, to a new approach of the cathedral like
building of contact and spiritual ascent.
The gothic architecture is a powerful instrument in a society that
sees, in the beginning of century XI, to become the urban life to
an accelerated rate. The city resurges with one extreme importance
in the political field, the economic field (mirror of the increasing
commercial relations), also ascending, by its side, the wealthy
bourgeoisie and the influence of the urban clergy.
The result of this is a substitution also of the necessities of
religious construction outside the cities, in the rural monarchic
communities, by the new symbol of the citadina prosperity, the gothic
cathedral. And like replaced to the search of a new increasing dignity
in France, the Cathedral from Notre-Dame of Paris arises.
The premises of the cathedral counted already,
before the construction of the building, on a historial solid relative
to the religious cult. Celtas had celebrated their ceremonies here
where, later, the Romans would erect a temple of devotion to the
God Jupiter.
Also in this premises the first Christian church in Paris, dedicated
to the cult of the Hindu goddess Shiva, the Basilica of Saint-Etienne,
projected by Childeberto around the 528 existed d.C. In substitution
of this work a románica church arises that will remain until
1163, when the impulse in the construction of the cathedral occurs.
Already in 1160, and result of the centralizador ascent of Paris,
Bishop Maurice de Sully considers the present church of the new
values and the offer little worthy of demolishing.
The gothic initial, with its technical innovations that allow forms
until then impossible, is the answer to the demand of a new concept
of prestige in the citadino dominion. During the reign of Luis VII,
and under his support, this project is blessed financially by all
the social classes with interest in the creation of the symbol of
its new power.
Thus, and considering the greatness of the project, the program
followed quickly and without interruptions that could happen by
lack of economic means (something common, at the time, constructions
of great spread). The construction begins in 1163 reflecting some
conductive outlines of the Cathedral of Saint Denis, still subsisting
doubts as far as the identity of that "would have placed"
the first stone, Bishop Maurice de Sully or the Pope Alexander III
Throughout the process (the construction, including modifications,
lasted until half-full of century XIV) was several the architects
who participated in the project, clarifying this factor the present
stylistic differences in the building.
In 1182 the choir already served religious and, during the
transition between the centuries, it is the finished ship. At the
beginning of century XIII they take works of the facade the west
with its two towers, extending in the middle of the same century.
The arms of transepto (of direction the north-south) are worked
from 1250 to 1267 with supervision of Jean de Chelles and Pierre
de Montreuil. Simultaneously other cathedrals to his around in an
advanced style rise more than the gothic one; the Cathedral of Chartres,
the Cathedral of Reims and the Cathedral of Amiens.
Basilica
of the Sacré Cœur:
Monument of Paris (France), located at the top of the Montmartre
hill. One is a basilica to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (in French,
Sacré Coeur). Initially it was conceived like a public monument
to pay tribute to the memory of the numerous French citizens who
were lost the life during the War franc-prusiana and to the revolt
that followed the French defeat.
He was the architect Paul Abadie who gained the aid for his construction.
The first stone was placed in 1875, and although it was completed
in 1914, was not devoted until the aim of World War I, in 1919.
The church was constructed with the direct participation of the
government of the Third Republic, to celebrate therefore the beginning
of a new regime, whose constitutional laws were voted that same
year.
Although very controverted, he is one of visited monuments more
of Paris. The basilica has Greek cross form, adorned with four cupolas:
the central dome, of 80 ms of height, is touched by a lantern, formed
by a columnata. In the apse, an immense square tower makes the times
of bell tower that keeps, among others, the Savoyarde, a bell of
3m of diameter and more than 26 t of weight, offered by the diocese
of Chambéry.
Cripta has the same disposition that the church, and is one of the
curiosities of the basilica. The architecture of the basilica is
inspired by the Roman and bizantina architecture and influenced
in other religious buildings of century XX, like for example the
basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux. It is possible
to accede to the basilica taking funicular of Montmartre
The Large Arch of Fraternity:

The Largee Arch of Fraternité is a monument in the business
district of The Defense to the west of Paris. It is usually known
as the Arche de la Défense or simply as La Grande Arche.
An international design competition was launched at the initiative
of French president François Mitterrand. Danish architect
Johann Otto von Spreckelsen (1929-1987) designed it to be a 20th
century version of the Triumphal Arch a monument to humanity and
humanitarian ideals rather than military victories. The construction
was begun in 1982. After Spreckelsen's death in 1987, his associate,
French architect Paul Andreu, completed the work in 1989/90.
The Arche is almost a perfect cube (width: 108m, height: 110m, depth:
112m; it has been suggested that the structure looks like a four
dimensional hypercube projected onto the three dimensional world).
It has a pre-stressed concrete frame covered with glass and Carrara
marble from Italy and was built by the French civil engineering
company Bouygues.
The almost-completed Arche was inaugurated in July 1989, with grand
military parades that marked the bicentenary of the French revolution.
It completed the line of monuments that forms the Axe historique
running through Paris. The Arch is turned at an angle of 6.33°
on this axis however, a peculiarity which has been explained by
several theories. In particular the architect is said to have wanted
to emphasise the depth of the monument, while the specific angle
was chosen to create symmetry with the similarly-skewed Louvre at
the other end of the Axe. However, it seems the most important reason
was mundanely technical. With a métro station, an RER station
and a motorway all situated directly underneath the Arche, the angle
was the only way to accommodate the structure's giant foundations.The two sides of the Arche
house government offices. The roof section is an exhibition centre.
The vertical structure visible in the photograph is the lift scaffolding.
Impressive views of Paris are to be had from the lifts taking visitors
to the roof.
In 1999 French urban climber Alain "Spiderman"
Robert scaled the structure's exterior wall using only his bare
hands and feet and with no safety devices of any kind.In the 2004 film,
Godzilla: Final Wars, it is one of the Parisian monuments destroyed
by the giant insect Kamacuras.
Defense:

Defense is
a district of high-rise offices, apartment blocks and shopping complexes
over part of the communes of Nanterre, Courbevoie and Puteaux (all
in the Hauts-de-Seine département), to the west of Paris.
At the western end near the Largee Arch is a large transport interchange,
including a Métro and RER station (the terminus of Métro
Line 1), a railway station (which predates the modern development)
and stations for buses and the T2 tram line. The Métro's
Line 1 also has a station at the eastern end, closer to Paris, Esplanade
de la Defense. Defense is named for the
statue, Defense de Paris, which was built in 1883 to commemorate
the soldiers who had defended Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
The name of the area sometimes causes confusion with foreigners,
who occasionally mistakenly assume it is some kind of military zone
or establishment. In
September 1958, The Public Establishment for Installation of Defense
(EPAD) was created by the state to manage and bring life to the
quarter. Defense began designing itself: the first buildings (of
which ESSO was the very first) were built and began to slowly replace
the city's factories, shanties, and even a few farms. The Center
of New Industries and Technologies (CNIT) was built and first used
in 1958. These "first generation" skyscrapers were all
very similar in appearance, limited to a height of 100 meters. In
1966, the Nobel Tower was the first office building built in the
area.
In the early 1970s, in response to great demand, a second generation
of buildings began to appear. Unfortunately, the economic crisis
in 1973 nearly halted all progress in the area. A third generation
of towers began to appear in the early 1980s. The biggest commercial
center in Europe (at the time), the Quatre Temps, was created in
1981. In 1982, the EPAD launched the Tête Défense competition
to find a monument to complete the Axe historique, which eventually
led to the construction of Grande Arche at the west end of the quarter.
During the same period, hotels were constructed, the CNIT was restructured,
and in 1992 Line 1 of the Paris Métro was extended to La
Défense, which made the area readily accessible to even more
of the city
After a stagnation in new development in the mid-1990s Defense is
once again expanding and is now the largest single business district
in Europe.
Important corporations headquartered at Defense include Cegetel,
Société Générale, Total, Aventis, and
Arcelor. The tallest skyscraper belongs to Total, constructed in
1985. It is 187 metres high, has 48 floors, and is the second highest
building in the Paris area (the first being the Tour Montparnasse).
The Louvre:

The Museum of the Louvre is one
of most important of the world. Initially strength, in century XII,
with Renaissance extensions and more delayed others. Part of the
Palace of the Louvre opened for the first time to the public like
museum the 8 of November of 1793, during the French Revolution.
A single set was united to the palace of the Tullerías forming
until 1870, when this last one was destroyed in the facts of the
Commune of Paris.
The last remodeling was the crystal pyramid that serves like entrance
from 1989, designed by Ieoh Ming Pei. In March of 2004 a new extension
of this museum announced. It will be dedicated to the art of the
Islam. For his design an international aid in 2005 will summon itself.
He hopes himself that this new room is opened to the public before
2009, with an investment of 50 million euros for this project.
In him one is more than famous Gioconda of the not less famous painter
and escultor Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as other works of
the universal Art like Venus de Milo or the Victory of Samotracia.
Aside from it also we can find in him enough works of authors very
known as they can be Jacques-Louis David, even Spanish like Goya
or Zurbarán.
The museum of the Louvre at the moment counts on different originating
work collections of art of civilizations, varied cultures and times.
It contains around 300,000 pieces, of which single 35,000 are exposed.
Picasso Museum:

The Museum Picasso is located in the Hotel Sale on
rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris. The mansion
which houses the collection was built between 1656 and 1659 for
Pierre Aubert, Lord of Fontenay, who became rich collecting the
Salt Tax (the name of the building means "salted"). The
architect was Jean Boullier, also known as Jean de Bourges, and
is considered to be one of the finest historic houses in the Marais.
The mansion has changed
hands several times through both sales and inheritances. The occupants
have included: the Embassay of the Republic of Venice (1671); the
Marechal de Villeroy; it was expropriated by the State during the
Revolution; in 1815 it became a school in which Balzac studied;
it also housed the municipal Ecole des Metiers d'Art. It was acquired
by the City of Paris in 1964, and was granted historical monument
status in 1968. The mansion was restored by Bernard Vitry and Bernard
Fonquernie of the Monuments Historiques between the years 1974 to 1980.
The Hotel Sale was selected
for the Musée Picasso after some contentious civic and national
debate. A competition was held to determine who would design the
facilities. The proposal from Roland Simounet was selected in 1976
from amongst the four that were submitted. Other proposals were
submitted by Roland Castro and the GAU (Groupement pour l'Architecture
et l'Urbanisme), Jean Monge, and Carlo Scarpa. For the most part,
the interior of the mansion (which had undergone significant modifications)
was restored to its former spacious state.
In 1968, France created
a law that allowed permitting heirs to pay inheritance taxes with
works of art instead of money, as long as the art is considered
an important contribution to the French cultural heritage. This
is known as a dation, and it is allowable only in exceptional circumstances.
Dominique Bozo, a curator of national museums, selected those works
that were to become the dation. This selection was reviewed by Jean
Leymarie and ratified in 1979. It contained work of all techniques
and from all periods, and is especially rare in terms of its excellent
collection of sculptures. Upon Jacqueline Picasso's death in 1986,
her daughter offered a new dation. The collection has also acquired
a number of works through purchases and gifts. Picasso said that "I
am the greatest collector of Picassos in the world." He had
amassed an enormous collection of his own work by the time of his
death in 1973, ranging from sketchbooks to finished masterpieces.
The Musée Picasso contains more than 3000 different art works
by Pablo Picasso including drawings, ceramics and paintings. This
is complemented by Picasso's own personal art collection including
works by Cézanne, Degas, Rousseau, Seurat, de Chirico and
Matisse. It also contains some Iberian bronzes and a good collection
of primitive art. One of the most impressive aspects of the museum
is that it contains a large number of works which Picasso painted
after his seventieth birthday.
The museum has also made
a real effort to present accompanying information. For example,
the work of cartoonists of the time who mocked or caricatured his
work is displayed with Picasso's work from the 1950s. There are
a few rooms with thematic presentations, but the museum largely
follows a chronological sequence, displaying painting, drawings,
sculptures and prints. Other items on display include photographs,
manuscripts, newspaper clippings and photographs to provide additional
contextual information.The second floor has a
special area set aside for temporary exhibitions and prints. The
third floor contains the library, the documentation and archives
department (reserved for research), and the curators offices. |
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