France
Ile de France
N48 51 30 E2 17 39
Date of Inscription: 1991
Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)
Property : 365 ha
Ref: 600
News Link/Travelogue:
From the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, from the Place de la Concorde to the Grand and Petit Palais, the evolution of Paris and its history can be seen from the River Seine. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle are architectural masterpieces while Haussmann’s wide squares and boulevards influenced late 19th- and 20th-century town planning the world over.
The city of Paris is built along a bend in the River Seine, between the confluence of the Marne and the Oise Rivers. The property comprises bridges, quays and the banks of the Seine in the historic part of its course (between the Pont de Sully and the Pont d’Iéna) and the Ile de la Cité and the Ile St Louis. The mastery of the architecture and town planning along the river is evident in the articulation of the Ile de la Cité and Ile St Louis with its banks, the creation of North-South thoroughfares, the installations along the river course, the construction of quays and the channelling of the river. The ensemble, regarded as a geographical and historical entity, forms an exceptional and unique example of urban riverside architecture, where the different layers of the history of Paris, the capital city of one of the first great nation states of Europe, are harmoniously superposed.
From the Ile St Louis to the Pont Neuf, from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, and the Place de la Concorde to the Grand and Petit Palais, the evolution of Paris and its history can be seen from the River Seine. A large number of major monuments of the French capital are built alongside the river and on the perspectives overlooking it. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle are architectural masterpieces of the Middle Ages; the Pont Neuf illustrates the spirit of French Renaissance; the coherence of the districts of the Marais and the Ile-Saint-Louis testify to Parisian town planning of the 17th and 18th centuries; finally, the banks of the river comprise the most masterful constructions of French classicism, with the Palais de Louvre, the Invalides, the Ecole Militaire and the Monnaie (the Mint). The conserved buildings of the Universal Exhibitions that took place in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries are numerous on the banks of the River Seine. Heading the list is the Eiffel Tower, a universally recognized icon of Paris and of iron architecture. The Ile Saint Louis, the Quai Malaquais and the Quai Voltaire offer examples of coherent architectural and urban ensembles, with very significant examples of Parisian construction of the 17th and 18th centuries. The large squares and avenues built by Haussmann at the time of Napoleon III have influenced town planning throughout the world.
Criterion (i): The banks of the Seine are studded with a succession of architectural and urban masterpieces built from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, the Palais de l’Institut, the Hôtel des Invalides, Place de la Concorde, Ecole Militaire, the Monnaie (the Mint), the Grand Palais of the Champs Elysées, the Eiffel Tower and the Palais de Chaillot.
Criterion (ii): Buildings along the Seine, such as Notre-Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, became the source of the spread of Gothic architecture, while the Place de la Concorde and the vista at the Invalides exerted influence on urban development of European capitals. Haussmann’s urban planning, which marks the western part of the city, inspired the construction of the great cities of the New World, in particular in Latin America. Finally, the Eiffel Tower and the Grand and Petit Palais, the Pont Alexandre III and the Palais de Chaillot are the living testimony of the universal exhibitions, which were of such great importance in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Criterion (iv): United by a grandiose river landscape, the monuments, the architecture and the representative buildings along the banks of the Seine in Paris each illustrate with perfection, most of the styles, decorative arts and building methods employed over nearly eight centuries.
Suggested Base:
Paris, the cosmopolitan capital of France, is one of the largest agglomerations in Europe, with 2.2 million people living in the dense central city, 7 million people in the Metropole du Grand Paris and almost 12 million people living in the metropolitan area. In the north of the country on the river Seine, Paris has the reputation of being the most beautiful and romantic of all cities, brimming with historic associations and remaining vastly influential in the realms of culture, art, fashion, food and design. Dubbed the City of Light and Capital of Fashion, it is home to some of… [read more]
Boulogne-Billancourt is a wealthy suburb west of Paris in France. See Albert Kahn Museum (Musée Albert-Kahn), 10 Rue du Port. Museum and botanical garden. Museum of the 1930s (Musée des Années Trente), Espace Landowski, 28 Avenue André Morizet. A municipal museum specializing in the fine arts, decorative arts, and industrial arts of the 1930s [read more].
Lille is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France and the core of one of the largest metropolitan agglomerations in the country. Historically, it has also been the capital of Flanders, and later an industrial powerhouse, thanks to which it now boasts a large and handsome historic centre. Today, it is known as a major economic and academic centre, with a very large student population. Situated at the literal crossroads of Europe, Lille is within a 90-minute train ride from Paris, Brussels and London. Lille is France’s fifth largest metropolitan area, and its most northerly. [read more]
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