Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architectural Pilgrimages
Eiffel Tower
Louvre pyramid
Basilique de Sacré-Cœur, Montmartre
Centre Pompidou
Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine
Gallo-Roman
Traces of Roman Paris can be seen in the residential foundations in the Crypte Archéolo-
gique in front of Notre Dame; in the Arènes de Lutèce; and in the frigidarium (cooling
room) and other remains of Roman baths dating from around AD 200 at the Musée National
du Moyen Age.
The latter museum also contains the Pillier des Nautes (Boatsmen's Pillar), one of the
most valuable legacies of the Gallo-Roman period. It is a 2.5m-high monument dedicated to
Jupiter and was erected by the boatmen's guild during the reign of Tiberius (AD 14-37) on
the Île de la Cité. The boat has become the symbol of Paris, and the city's Latin motto is
'
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur'
(Tossed by Waves but Does Not Sink).
Merovingian & Carolingian
Although quite a few churches were built in Paris during the Merovingian and Carolingian
periods (6th to 10th centuries), very little of them remain.
When the Merovingian ruler Clovis I made Paris his seat in the early 6th century, he es-
tablished an abbey on the south bank of the Seine. All that remains is the Tour Clovis, a
heavily restored Romanesque tower within the grounds of the prestigious Lycée Henri IV
just east of the Panthéon.
Archaeological excavations in the crypt of the 12th-century Basilique de St-Denis have
uncovered extensive tombs from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods; the oldest dates
from around AD 570.
Romanesque
A religious revival in the 11th century led to the construction of many
roman
(Romanesque)
churches, typically with round arches, heavy walls, few (and small) windows, and a lack of
ornamentation that bordered on the austere.
