Paris

Promenades and Parks.

In the heart of Paris are situated the State-owned gardens of the Tuileries (56 ac.), designed by Andre Le Notre under Louis XIV. and later enlarged. From the river-side a fine view is to be had over the Seine to the park and palace of the Trocadero ; and from the terraces along the place de la Concorde the eye takes in the place and the avenue of the Champs Elysees. The gardens of the Luxembourg, planned in the I7th century, are less formal than the Tuileries. Buttes-Chaumont gardens, in the north-east, occupy irregular ground, which, up to 1866, was occupied by lime-kilns, etc. Montsouris park, in the south, also consists of broken ground; in the middle stands the meteorological observatory, and space near to the park has been assigned to the new Cite Universitaire. The small Monceau park, in the aristocratic quarter to the north of the boulevard Haussmann, is a portion of the old park belonging to King Louis Philippe.

The State-owned Jardin des Plantes (founded in the first half of the 17th century), about 58 ac. in extent, contains the museum of natural history (1793), with its zoological gardens, its hothouses and greenhouses, its nursery and naturalization gardens. Its collection of living plants is very important, and it is very beautiful in spring.

The Champ de Mars (laid out about 177o) contains the Eiffel tower. The gardens of the Palais Royal are surrounded by galleries.

The Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, outside the old line of fortifications, are far larger than the parks within them.

The Bois de Boulogne, 2,100 ac., is reached by the wide avenue of the Champs Elysees as far as the Arc de Triomphe, and thence by the avenue of the Bois de Boulogne or that of the Grande Armee. Here are the two race-courses of Longchamp (flat races) and Auteuil (steeplechases), the park of the small château of Bagatelle (1777), the grounds of the Polo Club and the Racing Club, and the gardens of the Acclimatization Society, with menag eries, conservatories and aquarium, are largely visited by pleasure seekers. The Bois de Vincennes (see VINCENNES) is 2,300 ac. in area. Reference has been made above to some new open spaces, especially in connection with the demolished fortifications around which an open zone of 25o metres width was reserved. The parks and gardens, except the Tuileries and the Jardin des Plantes, are city property.

Churehes.

The cathedral of Notre-Dame (1163-1240), yd. in length and 52 yd. in breadth, consists of a choir and apse, a short transept, and a nave with double aisles continued round the choir and flanked by square chapels added after completion of the rest of the church. The central spire was added during res toration (1846-79). Two massive square towers crown the prin cipal façade. Its three doors are decorated with fine early Gothic carving and surmounted by a row of figures representing 28 kings of Israel and Judah. Above the central door is a rose window, above which is a third storey consisting of a graceful gallery of pointed arches supported on slender columns. The transept has two facades, also richly decorated with chiselled work and contain ing rose windows with magnificent 13th century glass. Part of the choir-screen is 14th century work. The woodwork of the choir

belongs to the early 18th century.

The historic abbey church of St. Germain-des-Pres has a Roman esque nave and transept, and is decorated with modern frescoes. St. Pierre-de-Montmartre is transitional (12th century). St. Julien-le-pauvre, contemporary with Notre-Dame, is allocated to the use of the Uniate Greek Church. St. Germain-l'Auxerrois (I3th–i6th century) has a fine porch St. Gervais is Flam boyant, with a classical façade and good stained glass.

St. Etienne-du-Mont combines the Gothic and Renaissance styles; it has a fine rood-loft (1600-16o9) by Pierre Biard, and a splendid collection of stained windows of the 16th and early 17th centuries; a chapel contains part of the sarcophagus of Ste. Genevieve. St. Eustache (1532 c. 1650) is unique because, with many Gothic characteristics, it is of the Renaissance period apart from a Classical facade of the i8th century.

St. Sulpice (1655-1777) al most equals Notre-Dame in di mensions, and is a fine example of the Classical style; St. Roch (1653-174o) contains works of art of the 17th and i8th centur ies. The church of the Sacre Coeur, on the height of Mont martre, was begun in 1876, and is in Romanesque-Byzantine style. La Madeleine was built on the lines of a Roman temple, under the influence of Napoleon I.

Civil Buildings.

The Louvre (Lupara), the south front of which extends along the Seine for about half a mile, owes its origin to Philip Augustus, who erected a huge keep, defended by a rectangle of fortifications, in what is now the south-west corner of the quadrangle, where its plan is traced on the pavement. The fortress was demolished by Francis I., and under that monarch and his successors Pierre Lescot built the portions of the wings to the south and west of the courtyard, which rank among the finest examples of Renaissance architecture. The rest of the buildings surrounding the courtyard date from the reigns of Louis XIII. and XIV., the most noteworthy feature being the colon nade (1666-7o) of the east facade, designed by Claude Perrault. The two wings projecting westwards from the corners of the quadrangle, each consisting of two parallel galleries with pavilions at intervals, were built under Napoleon III., with the exception of the Grande Galerie and, at right angles to it, the pavilion Henry IV., containing the Apollo gallery, which were erected on the river front by Catherine de' Medici and Henry IV. Of these two wings, that on the north is occupied by the Ministry of Finance. The history of the palace of the Tuileries (so called in allusion to the tile kilns which occupied its site) is intimately connected with that of the Louvre, its origin being due to Cath erine de' Medici and Henry IV. The latter built the wing, rebuilt under Napoleon III., which united it with the Grande Galerie, the corresponding wing on the north side dating from various periods of the i9th century. The palace itself was burnt by the Communists in 1871, with the exception of the terminal pavilion on the south (pavilion de Flore) ; only the northern terminal pavilion (pavilion de Marsan, now occupied by the museum of decorative arts) was rebuilt.