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How should one describe Paris? The Prussian State Minister Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote to the poet Friedrich Schiller in 1799: „Ich habe in der Tat nie einen Punkt gesehen, der soviel Größe, Pracht und Schönheit auf einmal in sich vereinigt“ („Indeed I have never seen a place that in itself united so much grandeur, splendour and beauty“).

The origins of the city go back to the 3rd century BC when the Parisii founded the first settlement on the Île de la Cité in the river Seine. The Roman town that began to develop after the battle at Grenelle (today in the 15th arrondissement) of 52 BC, which was described by Julius Caesar in his Bello Gallico, became known as Lutetia Parisiorum during the 1st century AD. In the early 3rd century the town already had 20,000 inhabitant, but was destroyed in 280 during the Migrations Period. The name Paris appears first in 360. In 508 Chlodwig made Paris the capital of the Merowingian empire. From the 14th until the 16th century, the kings of France did not reside in Paris but in the Loire region. It was the King Henri IV (crowned 1589) who returned to Paris after having converted to the Catholic faith in 1572. The French Revolution started in Paris on 14th July 1789, and saw the decapitation of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1793. Napoleon I founded the First Empire in 1804, which ended ten years later with the restauration of the kingdom under Louis XVIII. The Second Republic (1848–1852) and the Second Empire under Napoléon III (1852–1870) were succeeded by the Third Republic (1871–1940), which was ended by the Pétain regime (1940–1944). After a provisional government (1944–1947) the Fourth Republic was proclaimed in 1947. The constitution of the present, Fifth Republic was passed in 1958, its first president was general Charles de Gaulle. France was one of the founders of the European Union: the Treaty Establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, the first of the four founding treaties of the EU, was signed in Paris on 18th April 1951; it was followed by the Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) and the Treaty Establishing the European Economical Community (EEC), both signed on 25th of March 1957 in Rome, and the final Treaty on European Union, signed on the 7th of February 1993 in Maastricht.

The banks of the river Seine, the historic centre of Paris, were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991 (see also list of other UNESCO heritage sites).

VIII^e arrondissement, Élysée

The Arc de Triomphe [left] stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the Place de l'Étoile which marks the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The arch honours those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. Designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806 in the Neoclassical version of ancient Roman architecture, the monument stands 49.5 metres (165 ft) in height, 45 metres (148 ft) wide and 22 meters (72 ft) deep. The monument was inaugurated in 1836 by King Louis Philippe I and is the largest triumphal arch in existence. Major academic sculptors of France are represented in the sculpture of the Arc de Triomphe: Jean-Pierre Cortot, François Rude, Antoine Étex, Jean-Jacques Pradier and Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire. 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).

In the attic above the richly sculptured frieze of soldiers are 30 shields engraved with the names of major Revolutionary and Napoleonic military victories: Valmy, Jemmapes, Fleurus, Montenotte, Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, Rivoli, Les Pyramides, Aboukir, Alkmaer, Zurich, Heliopolis, Marengo, Hohenliden, Ulm, Austerlizt, Iéna, Friedland, Sierra, Essling (today part of Vienna), Wagram, Moscowa, Lutzen, Bleutzen, Dresde, Hanau, Montmirail, Montereau, Lagny. The inside walls of the monument list the names of 558 French generals; the names of those who died in battle are underlined. Also inscribed, on the shorter sides of the four supporting columns, are the names of the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars. Lille, Hondschootte, Wattignies, Arlon, Courtrai, Tourcoing, Weissembourg (Wissembourg), Maestricht, Aldenhoven, Landau, Neuwied, Rastadt, Etlingen, Neresheim, Bamberg, Amberg, Friedberg, Biberach, Altenkirchen, Schliengen, Kehl, Engen, Moeskirch, Hochstett, Wertingen, Guntzbourg, Elchingen, Dierstein, Hollabrunn, Saalfeld, Halle, Prentzlow, Lubeck, Pultusk, Eylau, Ostrolenska, Dantzig, Heilsberg, Landshut, Eckmulh, Ratisbonne, Raab, Mohilew, Smolensko, Valontina, Polotsk, Krasnoe, Wurschen, Loano, Millesimo, Dego, Mondovi, Roveredo, Bassano, St. Georges, Mantoue, Tagliamento, Sediman, Mont Thabor, Chebreisse, Bassignano, San Giuliano, Dietikon, Mutta Thal, Gênes, Le Var, Montebello, Le Mincio, Caldiero, Castel Franco, Raguse, Gaète, Le Bastan, Le Boulou, Burgos, Espinosa, Tudela, Ucléz, La Corogne, Sarragosse, Valls, Medellín, Maria-Belchite, Almonacid, Ocana, Alba de Tormes, Vique, Lerida, Gudad-Rodrigo, Almeida, Tortose, Gebora, Badajoz, Tarragone, Sagonte, Valence. Further 32 battles are also named on the interior sides of the small pillars: Diersheim, Dusseldorf, Grand-Port, Mjaroslawietz, Ypres, Luxembourg, Breslaw, Berg-op-Zoom, Jaffa, Peschiera, Caire, Caprée, Gratz (Graz), C. de Sprimont, Geisberg, Champaubert, Adige, Montagne Noir, Pozzolo, La Piave, Naples, Plaisance, Madrid, Mequinenza, Roses, Astorga, Girone, Olivenza, Toulouse, M. de Rioseco, Oporto, Fuente d'Ouoro. The battles which took place in the period between the departure of Napoleon from Elba and his final defeat at Waterloo are not included.

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 and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire in the Forum Romanum in Rome was extinguished in the year 391. It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (now in both World Wars).
[Text adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe]

The Grand Palais [left], a large glass exhibition hall, was built for the Paris World Fair of 1900. Built at the same time as the Petit Palais and the Pont Alexandre III, the exterior of this massive palace combines an imposing Classical sont façade with rich Art Nouveau ironwork. The building was closed for 12 years for extensive restoration work after one of the glass ceiling panels fell in 1993. After restoration, the Grand Palais reopened in 2005.

The Petit Palais [right] was built at the same time as the Grand Palais. It now houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris.

XVIII^e arrondissement, Butte-Montmartre

The Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre [left] was initiated after the defeat of France during the French-German War of 1870/1871. At first the fund-raising was by public subscription only, but in 1873 the National Assembly declared it a state undertaking. The site chosen for the construction is the butte Montmartre, by tradition the place of martyrdom of St. Denis, the first bishop of Paris. Seventy-eight entries were submitted in a competition. Out of these, the plans of Paul Abadier were chosen. The construction was begun in 1875. After the death of Abadier in 1884 six further architects were involved in the building works. The church was completed in 1914, but due to the outbreak of World War I it was consecrated only in 1919. In the same year it received the papal title of a Basilica minor.