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Bon5941 The Paris of old stones and dreams

The history of Paris can be read in its stones as well as in books... A monumental condensation of styles which will not leave the attentive stroller unmoved. Antiquity left a heritage of its public baths and arenas to the city. The Middle Ages remains present with the Romanesque bell-tower of Saint-German-des-Près, and the delicacy of the Sainte Chapelle affirms the miracle of Gothic. Paris is also the Classicism of the Grand Siècle, its domes and pediments, its dream of Antiquity already touched by the Renaissance. You will be charmed by the eclecticism of the Second Empire, the thrust of Haussmann’s boulevards, and the metal architecture celebrated by the Eiffel Tower, which spearheaded Art Nouveau. Art Deco did not lag far behind, and its modernity heralded the future concrete-and-glass emblems of a city in constant renewal.

The Classical era

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the influence of Antiquity was even greater. Symmetry and simplicity of line were in vogue at the start of the 17th century, as demonstrates the Place des Vosges.

The Jesuit style then introduced the dome and Baroque decoration, in particular in the churches of the Sorbonne and Val-de-Grâce.

Lonnade-louvreFrom 1650 to the second half of the 18th century, Paris saw a proliferation of pediments, columns, cupolas and mansard roofs.

The architects of Louis XIV constructed the Louvre colonnade, the Institut, Les Invalides, the Place Vendôme and of course the Chateau of Versailles.

Louis XV took charge of the Place de la Concorde and the Panthéon. Under Louis XVI, Classical architecure moved toward greater simplicity, after a long Rococo period.

DeleineIt came even closer to the example of Antiquity under the First Empire, and the Restoration did not snub pastiches: the Vendôme column, the church of the Madeleine, the arches at Carrousel and Etoile recall the great edifices of Roman Antiquity.

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