Paris history

According to the store the name Paris derives from the Parisii, a gale people that dominated the region when the Julius Cesar tropes occupied the place. It is believe that man founded this city between 250 a.C and 200 a.C.
When the Romans took it they changed it name to Lutecia and they reconstructed it over the left part of the Seine River. The city was known as Parisii or Paris since that moment.
The Seine was the main way of trading. The city was advocated to export wines coming from lle-de-France.
The Franc king Clodoveo set himself there in the year 508 after his victory over the Romans and he named it the capital.
After the period of “the layabout kings” in the year 768, Pepine had the power land before dying he divided the kingdom into his two sons. When the first one died (Carcoman) the second one took over. That is when Carlomango become the only king.

In the IX century the Vikings occupied the zone and in 905 Hugh Capeto established himself there and decided to reconstruct the city completely. In this century the Notre Dame Cathedral began to be built, the Sainte-Chapelle too and many works began to be made to have drinkable water.
In the year 1257 the Sorbonne was created (high school public establishment). Later there were religious and political problems due to who will be the one to follow on with the French throne. The problem caused the One Hundred Years War against the English. Charles V “the wise” achieved the power and he ordered the construction of the Bastille and the Chatelet.
Some time later the English people occupied Paris and the city was not recovered until 1437 when Charles VII reached the throne. The war ended with his son Louis XI. In 1515 Francis I assumed confronted with Charles I from Spain and as a consequence he was imprisoned. The people paid his rescue and as a demonstration of his gratitude he built the Louvre. When he dies his son Henry II, that also died, took his place. The succession was hard because his children were still kids, but finally Parisians named Henry VI the king. The man was killed in 1610 and the power was delegated to his wife Maria de Medecis, later replaced by his son Louis XIII.

Some time later Louis IV became the new king. The fact that he was still underage caused some problems but with a little help from Richelieu and Mazarino he did what he wanted with the whole country. Being the lengthiest in history, his reign lasted 72 years.
In the year 1789 the king tried to keep his power by his side but the 14th of July citizens stirred up in the Bastille. In 1791 they wanted to escape but they were stopped in Verennes. They were finally guillotined in the Place de la Concorde.
Under the dictatorship of Robes Pierre the country began the “terror years” stage. A few years later the man was also guillotined and consequently finishing the revolution.
Napoleon auto declared French emperor and he named the city capital of his empire. Sooner Napoleon III made a bigger urban transformation. He ordered Baron Haussmann to make some necessary changes to turn the city into the modern city ever. The medieval and antique part of Paris was demolished to construct gigantic boulevards and modern buildings, among them The Garnier Opera.

This period finished when the army of the emperor was defeated in the Franc-Prussian war.
During the second half of the century Paris housed many expositions gathering important artists of the world. In 1889 the best of all was carried out to commemorate the one hundred years since the French Revolution. For this occasion the Eiffel Tower was constructed, that although it should have been taken apart once the exposition was finished still remains there.
In the XX century the construction of the Paris metro began. Many important facts are related to this mean of transport.
In 1940 the city was conquered by the Hitler army during the Second World War. This period lasted four years but it did not cause important damage. With Francois Mitterrand as president since 1980 until 1990 the city had a push concerning the foundations and town planning.

Vast sectors of the city were renovated and many buildings were constructed such as library, La Defence, the Orsay Museum and the total remodelling of the Louvre.
Nowadays Paris is the seat of the central French government and receives the main foreign diplomatic representations. Plus it stands out concerning the political aspect of the European Union (EU).
It has two of the most important airports of Europe considering the amount of passengers and annual flights. The Charles de Gaulle airport located in the northeast part is the second most important after the London one. In the south part the Paris-Orly is divided into two important terminals with three runways.
The light city has a privileged place within the art and cultural world. Some artistic movements were actually born in Paris such as expressionism or surrealism and also distinguished art figures like Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Alexander Dumas (son), Claude Monet and Jean-Paul Sartre. It has 2.125.246 inhabitants and more than half of citizens under 15 years old have foreign offspring.

The region assembles approximately the fourth part of the industrial production of the country. Its economy sustains over the machinery manufacture, the best being the luxury articles like haute couture, jewellery and perfumes.
It has also housed foreign artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and writers like Gabriel García Márquez and Julio Cortazar.
Furthermore Paris has the greatest amount of masterpieces all of them distributed in museums and private collections. The best is the Monna Lisa, an invaluable piece of art. Its architectonic heritage has no comparison too.
France is the main touristy destination worldwide. Paris is doubtless the biggest attention of the country.

Paris in English