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What are the famous attractions in Paris?

Paris, also known as the capital of art and the capital of the French Republic, is the political, economic, cultural and commercial center of France.

Paris is located in the center of the Paris Basin in northern France, spanning both sides of the Seine River. It has a maritime climate and famous attractions include the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. From the sixth century AD, Paris became the capital of the Kingdom of France; in 1546, the construction of the Louvre Museum began; in 1977, the Centre Pompidou and the new shopping underground street were established. In January 2019, Paris was selected into the “2018 WFBA World’s Top 200 Charming Cities” list.

Louvre

The world-famous Palace of Arts was built in the early 12th century for defensive purposes, and later became a splendid palace through a series of expansions and renovations. From the 16th century, Francis I began to collect various works of art on a large scale, and subsequent emperors continued this tradition and enriched the collection of the Louvre. Today, the museum collects 400,000 works of art, including sculpture, painting, arts and crafts, and seven categories of ancient East, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece and Rome.

In 1981, the French government carried out a large-scale renovation of this exquisite building, and the Louvre has since become a professional museum. It is worth mentioning that there is a transparent pyramid building at the entrance of the main entrance of the Louvre. Its designer is the famous Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei.

Eiffel Tower

It was built in 1889 for the international exposition at that time. After it was built, it was criticized a lot, saying that it was a pile of rotten iron that destroyed the beauty of Paris. Today, the tower, which once held the world’s tallest building record for more than 40 years, has become the most important symbol of Paris. Romantic Parisians gave the tower a beautiful name – “Shepherdess of the Clouds”.

The Eiffel Tower was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the bourgeois revolution in France in 1789 on the occasion of the international exposition that shocked the world. It is named after the designer, the famous French architectural engineer Gustave Eiffel, and a bronze bust of Eiffel was built under the tower.

In 1889, on the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, the French government decided to celebrate with an unprecedented scale World’s Fair in Paris to showcase the achievements of industrial technology and culture, and to build a monument to symbolize the French Revolution and Paris.

The preparatory committee originally hoped to build a classical memorial group with statues, monuments, gardens and temples, but among more than 700 applications, the bridge engineer G. Eiffel (1832-1923) was selected. Design: A giant tower that symbolizes machine civilization and can be seen from any corner of Paris.

The whole tower is 320 meters high. The tower is divided into three floors. There are restaurants and cafes on the first and second floors. The third floor is an observation deck.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is located in the center of Place Charles de Gaulle and is 50 meters high. It is one of the symbols of Paris. With the Arc de Triomphe as the center, 12 main avenues extend outward. Completed in 1836 to commemorate the glory and victories of the French army, it surpassed Rome’s Arch of Constantine in size.

Each side of the arch has a huge relief, the content is based on the history of the French war from 1792 to 1815. The most famous one is the “Marseillaise” relief on the lower right side of the side facing the Champs-Élysées, depicting the scene of the Volunteers’ expedition in 1792. The reliefs on the four walls above the arches celebrate the triumphant return of Napoleon, and the name of each battle is engraved on the shield at the top. The single color and exquisite relief give a solemn, austere feeling.

In 1920, the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” was built under the doorway, and the flames ignited every evening.

In addition, Paris has a small Arc de Triomphe, the Arc de Triomphe Carrousel. Located opposite the Louvre Museum, it was built to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte’s series of victories in 1805. Between the red and white marble columns are three round arches, above which are covered with light reliefs commemorating the victories of Emperor Napoleon. At the top of the door are four gilded galloping horses taken from the Church of San Marco in Italy, the originals being returned to Italy in 815.

The La Defense Building, the symbol of the New City of Paris, is also known as the “New Arc de Triomphe”.

Palace of Versailles

Originally the place where the royal family hunted, it was the palace from the beginning of Louis XIV (1682) to the French Revolution. Located 20 kilometers west of Paris, the Palace of Versailles was built by Louis XIV and is famous for its luxurious and imaginative architectural designs. The total length of the complex is 580 meters, including the Royal Palace Castle, Gardens, Trianon, etc.

Palais Garnier

The Paris Opera is the largest theatre in the world for performing operas. The Opera House covers an area of ​​nearly 11,000 square meters and can accommodate more than 2,000 spectators. Many classic dramas are staged every year. The Opera House was designed by Garnier and built between 1862 and 1875. It almost combines all the architectural styles before Napoleon III. The facade of the Opera House is covered with a large number of decorations, which are typical of the Napoleon III period. work. The opera house also includes a ballet school and a library.

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral was built in 1345. Not only is it famous for Hugo’s novel of the same name, but also because it is the oldest and most magnificent Catholic church in Paris. In Notre Dame de Paris, it is called the “Symphony of Stones”. This Gothic megalithic building has a history of two hundred years. It is the oldest, largest and most architecturally outstanding Catholic church in Paris. It is also of epoch-making significance in the history of European architecture.

The church is square in shape and solemn in manner. It is divided into three layers facing west, 69 meters high, and three peach-shaped gate holes are side by side on the ground floor. The doors are covered with carvings depicting biblical stories. On the door roll is a long niche with statues of 28 kings of ancient Judea and Israel.

The apse of Notre Dame, built in 1370, is not only the end of the entire group, but itself creates a sense of dynamism that affects every part of the structure, from the high and low arches to the ribbed frame. dynamic.
Notre Dame Cathedral is located on the island of Citi in the city center. The tower is the best place to look around Paris, overlooking the scenery on the Seine River and the Pompidou National Cultural and Art Center.

However, at around 18:50 on April 15, 2019, a fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, and the entire building was severely damaged. The fire location was located at the top tower of Notre Dame. The fire quickly swallowed up the spire of the Notre Dame tower, and the spire collapsed as if it was broken in the middle.

Hundreds of firefighters worked through the night to fight the fire until dawn the next day, saving the entire structure of the building. The fire has attracted attention in France and around the world, and its reconstruction has officially started, during which Notre Dame’s artwork has been temporarily transferred to the Louvre for safekeeping.