Historic Cities · France
Paris through the ages
Paris is the capital and largest city of France, with an estimated city population of 2.04 million in an area of 105.4 km2 (40.7 sq mi), and a metropolitan population of 13.2 million as of January 2026. Located on the river Seine in the centre of the Île-de-France region, it is the largest metropolitan area and fourth-most populous city in the European Union (EU).
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Paris in 1250
Medieval Paris
This is Paris under King Louis IX at the height of the Gothic boom: the west front of Notre‑Dame stands newly finished and the Sainte‑Chapelle shimmers within the royal palace. The walk follows the Seine across the island and through the bustling Right Bank markets to the learned streets of the Left Bank, ending on the high ground that overlooks the medieval city.
Low stone towers, timber-framed houses with steep, jettied upper floors, and clusters of church spires punctuate a city packed inside Philip II's walls. The Seine is broad with sandbars and wooden quays; bridges are narrow, lined with shops and money‑changers. Roofs are mostly steep slate or tile, walls pale stone or timber with white infill. Streets are narrow and crowded; the island's cathedral and the new glass of the Sainte‑Chapelle dominate the skyline.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Seine near the Louvre → Louvre Fortress Quay → Right Bank Riverfront → Grand Pont → Approach to Île de la Cité → Palais de la Cité → Sainte-Chapelle Exterior → Parvis of Notre‑Dame → Street by the Cloister → East Quay of the Island → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Louvre Keep Great Hall · Goldsmith's Bridge-house · Royal Audience Hall · Upper Royal Chapel · Cathedral Nave · Cloister Scriptorium · Grand Market Hall · Bankers' Counting House · Money-changers' Counting Room · Sorbonne Lecture Hall · Abbey Refectory · Montmartre Pilgrims' Chapel
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Paris in the Middle Ages.
Paris in 1670
Paris of Louis XIV
Paris in 1670 is the great capital of Louis XIV on the cusp of its classical face: royal building campaigns meet the riot of streets and river commerce. The walk moves from the city's outer heights, across the Seine and through the Marais and markets to the new colonnade at the Louvre and the tree‑lined promenades where early lanterns already brighten the night.
The 1670 skyline is a low, clustered mass of steep tile and lead roofs punctuated by church spires and the twin towers of Notre‑Dame; riverside stone quays, wooden piers and low bridges cut the Seine into busy reaches. Façades mix red brick and pale stone, arcades and carved pediments. Streets are narrow, often muddy, lit by iron lanterns at night; crowds of market porters, carriages, artisans and promenading nobility give the city constant motion.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Montmartre Heights → Faubourg Saint‑Denis Road → Porte Saint‑Denis → Boulevard du Temple → Place Royale → Rue des Francs‑Bourgeois → Hôtel de Sully → Rue Saint‑Antoine → Place de la Grève → Place Dauphine → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Priory Church Interior · Gilded Salon · Painter's Atelier · Great Gallery · Tapestry Workshop · Vaulted Arcade · Pumping Chamber · Hall of Justice · Cathedral Nave · Great Hall · Theatre Auditorium · Grand Gallery · Tuileries State Salon · Academy Studio
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Paris in the 17th century.
Paris in 1789
Revolutionary Paris
Paris in 1789 stands at the edge of upheaval: Enlightenment ideas and royal spectacle meet crowded markets, artisans' workshops and barricade-ready faubourgs. The walk moves from high viewpoints and river quays into the Palais‑Royal arcades full of pamphleteers, past the Tuileries gardens and the Bastille's towers, through the wooden benches of the Faubourg Saint‑Antoine workshops where furniture and arms are made, and into the squares where cockades appear on coats and hats.
The skyline is a low, classical mass pierced by church domes and the spire of Notre‑Dame, the Hôtel des Invalides’ gilded dome and the long, flat faces of the Louvre and Tuileries. Streets are narrow and cobbled; façades are pale stone and limewashed plaster with dark slate roofs. Arcades and wooden shopfronts open onto busy quays, market stalls and hoarding scaffolds. Barges and handcarts crowd the Seine; powdered wigs, tricorn hats and work aprons colour the crowds.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Montmartre Hill → Porte Saint‑Martin → Rue Saint‑Denis → Les Halles → Pont au Change → Place Dauphine → Parvis de Notre‑Dame → Quai des Orfèvres → Pont Neuf → Palais‑Royal Arcades → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Rue Saint‑Denis Printing Press · Grande Halles Meat Hall · Moneychangers' Counting House · Place Dauphine Inn Parlor · Notre-Dame Nave · Sainte-Chapelle Upper Chapel · Café de Foy Coffee Room · Salon of the Philosophes · Royal Library Reading Room · Hôtel Particulier Grand Salon · Tuileries Pavilion Salon · City Council Chamber · Master Joiner's Workshop · Gate Courtyard of the Bastille
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Paris in the 18th century.
Paris in 1889
Belle Époque Paris
Paris in 1889 stands at the high point of the Belle Époque: the iron lattice of Gustave Eiffel's new tower rises over the Exposition Universelle while Haussmann's wide boulevards and new public buildings shape everyday life. The walk moves from the city's approaches through grand avenues, river quays and market streets to the windmills and artists' lanes of Montmartre, showing cafés, omnibuses, gaslight and the spectacle of the world's fair.
The city shows a layered skyline of slate roofs and pale Haussmann stone punctuated by the new iron Eiffel Tower and the dome of Les Invalides, with the Palais Garnier's ornate silhouette on the Grands Boulevards. Broad tree‑lined avenues, continuous shop arcades and regular cornices create a tidy, light‑filled urban scale; the Exposition fills a stretch of riverfront with glass-and-iron pavilions. Horse‑drawn omnibuses, barges on the Seine, café terraces and the windmills of Montmartre animate the streets under a cool, often clear northern light.
The walk — 24 streets, squares and views
Neuilly approach → Porte Maillot → Place de l'Étoile → Avenue des Champs-Élysées → Place de la Concorde → Rue de Rivoli → Tuileries Gardens → Place du Carrousel → Palais-Royal → Place de l'Opéra → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Vault and Stair of the Arc de Triomphe · Arcades of the Palais-Royal · Café de la Paix Grand Salon · Grand Staircase of the Opéra · Central Iron Hall of Les Halles · Patisserie Workshop on Rue Montorgueil · Nave of Notre-Dame Cathedral · Dôme Church of Les Invalides · First Platform of the Eiffel Tower · Galerie des Machines Exhibition Hall · Great Hall of the Trocadéro Palace · Balroom of the Moulin de la Galette · Artist's Attic at Place du Tertre · Scaffolded Choir of Sacré‑Cœur
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Paris in the Belle Époque.
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