The Palais de Justice (law courts) covers the greater part of the Ile de la Cite, west of the boulevard du Palais. In Gallo Roman times the site was occupied by a citadel, later the palace of the Merovingian and Capetian kings, who enlarged it. Charles V. (1337-80) made it over to the parlement. Fires in 1618, 1737 and 1776 heralded a reconstruction in 1840. In the interior the only mediaeval remains are the Sainte-Chapelle, the Conciergerie, an old prison where Marie Antoinette was confined, and some halls and kitchens of the 13th century. The courts, which include the Cour de Cassation, the supreme tribunal in France, the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, are on the first floor, the chief feature of which is the fine Salle des Pas Perdus, the successor of the Grand Salle, a hall originally built by Philip the Fair, and rebuilt after fires in 1618 and 1871. The Sainte-Chapelle, one of the most perfect specimens of Gothic art, was erected from 1245 to 1248 by St. Louis as a shrine for the crown of thorns and other relics now at Notre-Dame, and was restored in the i9th century. It comprises a lower portion for servants and retainers, and the upper portion or royal chapel, richly decorated and lighted by lofty windows set close together and filled with beautiful stained glass. The Palais de Justice has a fine facade (1879) in Greek style. The façade towards the Seine embodies four towers which date, in parts, from the reconstruction under the Capetian dynasty. That at the east angle (the tour de 1'Horloge) contains a clock of 137o, said to be the oldest public clock in France. A handsome iron railing of 1787 separates the courtyard on the east side from the boulevard du Palais.
The hotel de Cluny is a graceful and well-preserved Late Gothic building, with fine carved doors, dormer windows and open-work parapet. The mansion, which contains a rich Gothic chapel, was erected at the end of the 15th century by Jacques d'Amboise, abbot of Cluny. It stands on the site of a Roman palace said to have been built by the emperor Constantius Chlorus (d. 3o6), and ruins of the baths are still to be seen adjoining it. It was bought in 1833 by A. du Sommerard, to house his collections, and is now a State museum.
The Hotel des Invalides was founded, under Louis XIV., as a retreat for infirm soldiers and also is the headquarters of the mili tary governor of Paris. It contains museums of military history and of artillery (weapons and armour), the parish church of St. Louis, and behind all a gilded dome sheltering another church, the Eglise royale, built by J. H. Mansart, 1693-1706. The central crypt of this church contains a fine sarcophagus of red porphyry, in which lie the remains of Napoleon I., brought from St. Helena in 1840, while close by are the tombs of his friends, Duroc and Bertrand.
The Pantheon was built to the plans of J. G. Souffiot, in the last half of the i8th century, under the name of Ste. Genevieve, whose previous sanctuary it replaced. In 1791 the Constituent Assembly decreed that it should be no longer a church, but a sepulchre for great Frenchmen. Voltaire and Mirabeau were the first to be entombed in the Pantheon, as it then came to be called. Reconsecrated and resecularized more than once during the 19th century, the building finally regained its present name in 1885, when Victor Hugo was buried there. The Pantheon is an imposing domed building in the form of a Greek cross. The tympanum above the portico is by David d'Angers, and in the interior are a series of paintings of the life of Ste. Genevieve by Puvis de
Chavannes.
The Palais Royal, built by Richelieu about 1630, is now occu pied by the Council of State and the Theatre Francais. The palace of the Luxembourg, on the site of a mansion of Duke Francis of Luxembourg, was rebuilt by Marie de' Medici, wife of Henry IV. The south façade, facing the Luxembourg garden, was rebuilt in the original style under Louis Philippe. The Luxembourg became the palace of the Directory, and later of the Consulate, the senate of Napoleon I., the chamber of peers under Louis Philippe, the senate under Napoleon III., and, since 1879, it has housed the republican senate. The chamber of deputies meets in the Palais Bourbon (i8th and early 19th century), and was first built for the Bourbon-Conde family. The palais de l'Elysee, the residence of the president of the republic, was built in 1718 for Louis d'Auvergne, count of Evreux, and was afterwards acquired by Madame de Pompadour. The hotel de ville (1873 82), on the right bank of the Seine, opposite the Ile de la Cite. stands on the site of a town hall built from 1535 to 1628, much enlarged towards 1840, and destroyed by the Communists in 1871.
The Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, a technical school and museum of machinery, etc., founded by the engineer Vaucanson, in 1775, is established in the old Cluniac priory of St. Martin-des Champs, enlarged in the 19th century. The refectory is a fine hall of the 13th century; the church, with an interesting choir in the Transition style, dates from the nth to the i3th centuries. The Musee Carnavalet was built in the i6th century for Francois de kernevenoy, whence its present name, and enlarged in 166o; Mme. de Sevigne afterwards resided there. The national archives are stored in the hotel Soubise (early i8th and 19th century), on the site of a house built by Olivier de Clisson in 137o. It was afterwards added to by the family of Guise, and rebuilt by Fran cois de Rohan, duke of Soubise. The palace of Cardinal Mazarin, augmented in modern times, contains the Bibliotheque Nationale. The palais de l'Institut, formerly the College Mazarin, dates from the last half of the 17th century; it is the seat of the academies (except the Academy of Medicine, which occupies a modern building close to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts) and of the Bureau des Longitudes, the great national astronomical council. The Military school (i8th century) overlooks the Champ de Mars. The huge Sorbonne buildings date from the latter years of the 19th century, with the exception of the church, which belonged to the college as reconstructed by Richelieu. The astronomical observatory is a splendidly-equipped building erected under Louis XIV. The Ecole des Beaux-Arts (facing the Louvre, on the left bank of the Seine), with its interesting collections, partly occupies the site of an Augustinian convent, and comprises the old hotel Chimay. It was erected from 182o to 1838 and added to later. The court yard contains part of the façade of the Norman château of Gail Ion (16th century), destroyed in the Revolution, and the portal of the château of Anet (erected by Philibert Delorme in 1548) has been adapted as one of the entrances. The Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts, where horse-shows, etc., as well as annual exhibitions of paintings and sculptures are held, and the Petit Palais des Beaux-Arts, which contains art collections belonging to the city, date from 1897-190o. The Bourse belongs to the first half and the Tribunal of Commerce and the Trocadero are of the second half of the 19th century.