Asbib Paris Tour » travel

Grand Louvre

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:54:56 +0000

The origin of the Louvre goes back to the end of the 12th century, when Philippe Auguste, before leaving for the Third Crusade, had a fortress built near the river to defend Paris from the incursions of the Saxons (in fact the name Louvre seems to derive from the Saxon word “leovar”, meaning “fortified dwelling”): this original nucleus occupied about a quarter of the present-day Cour Carree. The king continued to live on the Cite, so that the fortress was used to contain the Treasury and the archives. In the 14th century, Charles V, knows as Charles the Wise, decided to make it his residence and had the famous Library constructed. But the kings did not live in the Louvre again until 1536, when Francois I, after having the old fortress knocked down, erected on its foundations a palace more in keeping with Renaissance tastes. Work proceeded under Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici, who gave Philibert Delorme the task of constructing the Tuileries Palace and uniting it to the Louvre by means of an arm stretching out towards the Seine. The modifications and extensions to the palace continued under Henri IV, who had the Pavilion de Flore constructed, and under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, who completed the Cour Carree and had the western facade with the Colonnade erected. In 1682, when the royal court was transferred to Versailles, work was virtually abandoned and the palace fell into such a state of ruin that in 1750 its demolition was even contemplated. But work on the palace, suspended during the Revolution, was resumed by Napoleon I: his architects, Percier and Fontaine, began building the north wing, finished in 1852 by Napoleon III, who finally decided to complete the Louvre. During the period of the Commune, in May 1871, the Tuileries Palace was burnt down and the Louvre assumed its present appearance. After the important Library of Charles the Wise had been dispersed, it was Franpois I who, in the 16th century, first began an art collection. This was considerably enclarged under Louis XIII and Louis XIV, so much so that by the death of the latter the Louvre was already used regularly for exhibitions of paintings and sculptures. On 10 August 1793 it was opened to the public and its gallery thus finally became a museum. From then on, the collection was continually enlarged: Napoleon I went so far as to demand a tribute in works of art from the nations he conquered. The objects listed in the museum’s catalogue today are subdivided into various sections: from ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman to Oriental works, from medieval to modern sculpture, and from the objets d’art such as those belonging to the Royal Treasury to the immense collections of paintings.

The Cite

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:54:17 +0000

The Cite, centre of the city’s life since the 3rd century, was founded here on what was the largest of the islands in the Seine. It was the first settlement and first religious centre, and here were erected the Cathedral and the Palais de Justice. Numerous bridges link it to the banks of the Seine, along which run the picturesque “quais”. One of the most animated and colourful of the quays is the Quai de Montebello, extending between the bridges called Pont de I’Archeveche and Pont au Double: it is full of life and its parapets are lined with the typical “bouquinistes”, the sellers of rare and strange books and prints old and new.
PONT NEUF AND SQUARE DU VERT GALANT – Walking along the Quai St Michel and the Quai des Grands Augustins, we reach this bridge, which is the oldest in Paris, planned by Du Cerceau and Des llles: begun in 1578 under Henri III and completed under Henri IV in 1606, it has two slender round arches and in the middle of it is the equestrian statue of Henri IV. The square is reached by a stairway behind the statue of the king. It is the furthermost point of the Cite and one of the most beautiful parts of Paris.
PLACE DU PARVIS – Turning back along the celebrated Quai des Orfevres, we pass the headquarters of the Judicial Police at number 36 before reaching the Place du Parvis, which is the point from which road distances in France are measured: the bronze plaque in the centre of the square in front of the cathedral indicates the starting point for all the nation’s roads. On the north side of the square stands the grandiose Hotel-Dieu, a hospice founded in the 7th century but rebuilt between 1868 and 1878; on the west side is the headquarters of the Prefecture de Police. Overlooking the square is the imposing Notre-Dame, the cathedral of Paris.

Notre Dame

admin — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 20:43:57 +0000

The cathedral of Notre-Dame stands on the site of a Christian basilica which had in turn been built on the site of a temple from the Roman era. Its construction was begun in 1163, under Bishop Maurice de Sully: first the chancel was built, followed over the years by the nave and aisles and the facade, completed by Bishop Eudes de Sully in about 1200, the towers being finished in 1245. The architects Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil then constructed the chapels in the aisles and in the chancel. Towards 1250 the facade of th north arm of the transept was also completed; the other, that of the south arm, was not begun until eight years later. The church could be said to be completed in 1345. In 1793 it ran the risk of being demolished; at this time, during the French Revolution, it was dedicated to the Goddess of Reason. Reconsecrated in 1802, it was the scene two years later of the coronation of Napoleon I by Pope Pius VII. It was restored by Viollet-le-Duc between 1844 and 1864.
THE FACADE — It is divided vertically into three parts by pilasters and horizontally into three areas by its two galleries; in the lowest zone are the three portals. Above the portals runs the Gallery of the Kings, with its 28 statues representing the kings of Israel and Judea. In 1793 the people, seeing them as the hated French kings, knocked them down, but they were later put back in place. The central zone of the facade contains two great mullioned windows, on either side of a rose window measuring more than 30 feet in diameter (1220-1225). In the centre are the statues of the Virgin and Child with angels, on either side Adam and Eve. Above this part is a gallery of tightly carved arches which link the two towers at the sides; though never completed, the towers contain splendid, extremely high two-light windows. Viollet-le-Duc filled this uppermost zone with gargoyles, grotesque figures with strange and fantastic forms, projecting from pinnacles, spires and extensions of the walls.
Central portal. On this is depicted the Last Judgment: on the pier which divides it in two is the statue of Christ, while in the embrasures there are panels with the personifications of the vices and virtues and statues of the apostles. Around the curve of the arch are the Heavenly Court, Paradise and Hell. The lunette containing the Last Judgment is divided into three parts, dominated by the figure of Christ, flanked by the Virgin, St John and angels with symbols of the Passion. Below are the Blessed on one side and the Damned on the other. In the lower part, the Resurrection.
Right portal. Also called the Portal of St Anne, it dates from 1160-1170, with reliefs from the 12th and 13th centuries. On the dividing pier, a statue of St Marcel. In the lunette, the Virgin between two angels and at the sides Bishop Maurice de Sully and King Louis XII.
Left portal. Also called the Portal of the Virgin, it is the finest of the three. On the dividing pier, the Virgin and Child, a modern work. In the lunette above, the Death, Glorification and Assumption of the Virgin. On the door-posts are depicted the Months of the year, in the embrasures figures of saints and angels.
RIGHT SIDE – On this side of the church is the Portal of St Stephen, begun by Jean de Chelles in 1258 and completed by Pierre de Montreuil, with its splendid large rose window and another smaller one in the cusp. Here can be seen the spire, soaring above the centre of the cathedral 295 feet high: it was rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc, who depicted himself among the Apostles and Evangelists which decorate it.
INTERIOR – Its dimensions are impressive: 427 feet long, 164 feet wide and 115 feet high, it can contain no less than 9000 persons. The interior is divided into nave and four aisles by cylindrical piers 16 feet in diameter, with a double ambulatory around the transept and chancel. The rose window in the facade, above the 18th-century organ, depicts the Signs of the Zodiac, the Months and the Vices and Virtues. Above the arcades runs a gallery with double openings, surmounted in turn by ample windows. The chapels following one after the other up to the transept have a wealth of works of art from the 17th and 18th centuries: outstanding are two paintings by Le Brun, the Martyrdom of St Stephen and the Martyrdom of St Andrew, in the first and second chapels on the right respectively. The two ends of the transept have splendid stained-glass windows from the 13th century. The one in the north transept(about 1250) depicts subjects from the Old Testament with the Virgin and Child in the centre; the one in the south transept, restored in the 18th century, represents Christ in the act of blessing in the centre, surrounded by Apostles and Martyrs, with the Wise and Foolish Virgins. After the transept comes the chancel: on the pier to the right as one enters is the celebrated statue of Notre-Dame-de-Paris (Our Lady of Paris), a 14th-century work once in the St-Aignan Chapel. Around the chancel are carved wooden choir stalls (18th century); on the high altar, a statue of the Pieta, by Nicolas Coustou, in the centre, with Louis XIII, by Guillaume Coustou, and Louis XIV, by Coysevox, at the sides. An uncompleted marble chancel screen, decorated with reliefs (works by Jean Ravy and Jean le Bouteiller), separates the chancel from the ambulatory, and in the radial chapels around it are numerous tombs. On the right, between the Chapelle St-Denis and the Chapelle St-Madeleine, is the entrance to the Treasury: it contains much sacred silverware and important relics, among them a fragment of the True Cross, the Crown of Thorns and the Holy Nail.
APSE – This is one of the most daring apses of the Middle Ages, with flying buttresses 50 feet long, built by Jean Ravy (14th century).
Next to the apse of Notre-Dame is the Square Jean XXIII: its present appear-anche and its Neo-Gothic fountain date from a reorganisation project in 1844. We now walk along the Quai aux Fleurs and Quai de Corse, where there is a picturesque and typical flower market every day, substituted on Sundays by an equally colourful bird market. Beyond the Bridge of Notre-Dame, we reach the headquarters of the Tribunal de Commerce and then the bridge called the Pont au Change, the name of which derives from the many moneychangers’ shops concentrated here in the Middle Ages.