Introduction & History

Paris—the city of light, love and lots of butter.

Renowned as a global center for art, fashion, cuisine, literature, and intellectual pursuits, for centuries the city has invited visitors and locals to savor the finer things in life.

The history of Paris dates back to the mid 200s BC when a Celtic tribe called the Parisii settled on the banks of what is now the Seine river. About 200 years later, in 52 BC, Romans conquered the village, naming it Lutetia and establishing a Gallo-Roman city. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, the city was renamed Paris and occupied by King Clovis I of the Franks, who eventually made the city his capital in 508. 

During the Middle Ages, Paris was Europe's largest city, a key religious and commercial hub, and the birthplace of Gothic architecture. The University of Paris, established in the mid-13th century, was one of Europe's earliest universities. It faced the Bubonic Plague in the 14th century and the Hundred Years' War in the 15th century. The city was then challenged by the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants. In the 18th century, Paris was at the heart of the intellectual movement of the Enlightenment and witnessed the pivotal events of the French Revolution beginning in 1789, which brought down the French monarchy.

In the 19th century, Paris underwent significant physical and intellectual transformations. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables depicts the struggles of the working class leading up to the second French Revolution in 1830. Less than 20 years later, the third French Revolution took place which ushered in the Second Republic of France and led to the election of Napoleon Bonaparte as France’s president (though he ultimately extended his presidency via a coup d’etat and became Emperor Napoleon III). Napoleon highlighted the country’s (and his own) military might by erecting monuments throughout Paris and worked with Georges-Eugène Haussmann, known as Baron Haussmann, to completely revamp the look and feel of the city with sweeping boulevards, parks and uniform building facades. Bursting with ideas and culture, the city quite literally expanded when its boundaries were re-drawn in 1860.

During the 20th century, Paris was bombed during World War I and was under German occupation during World War II. But between these two bleak periods, Paris’s hold on the art and academic world strengthened as intellectuals, writers and artists such as Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Coco Chanel felt the city’s magnetic pull. Some of the city’s most iconic museums, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musee d’Orsay and the glass pyramids of the Louvre, were opened during this period as well.

Paris’s global importance is still felt today throughout Europe and the world. The city welcomes millions of tourists, fashionistas, gourmands and intellectuals each year seeking a bit of joie de vivre.