Spotlight on Paris [antikvár]

The Pont des Arts and the Ile de la Cité.From the first traces of human habitation during Prehistoric times up to the gigantic local authority that we see today, the destiny of Paris has created the liistoiy and the past of France itself.Its main attraction was geographical in naturethe Seine drew the Celts of the Parisii tribe to the Ile de la Cité, the marshland which became known as Lutetia. Led by Julius Caesar, the Roman invaders who gained overall mastery of the country inINTRODUCTION52 B.C. extended their sovereignty to the Left Bank. They occupied the town for more than three centuries, bringing it Pax romana and its very first commercial activities within a civilisation which has left us remains such as the Arena of Lutetia or the baths in the Cluny Residence. With the arrival of the Barbarians in the latter part of the 3rd Century, peace was shattered and the Roman emperors Julian and Valentinian, who lived in the first palace on the island (theforerunner of the Law Courts), strengthened their hold on authority. The population again huddled close to the walled He de la Cité. In 508, Clovis defeated the Huns and established Merovingian supremacy on the island, which had taken the name Paris. Pippin the Short became the first of the Carolingian monarclts in 751; with the coming of Charlemagne, the lineage was to favour Germany and Aix-la-Chapelle to the detriment of Paris which suffered3