The d'Artillerie in the west wing prises an historical collection of 10.000 war im plements. The fine Esplanade des Invalides. fronting the building and bordered by the Quai d'Orsay, connects by the Pont Alexandre III. with the Champs on the north bank. Here are situated the Palais dr the otlieial residence of the President of Ole Republic. the Grand and Petit Palais des Beaux•Arts. where the Salons are held. and the Pala is de Glaee. the three latter built fir the Exposition of replaced the Palais de l'Indu-trie built for the tir-t Great Exposition in 1s55, and until 1 =.07 housing a permanent exhibit i, u. TM nee through the Place de la Concorde the Jordin its 'Tuileries is reached. to the c•t-t of which is the Louvre (q.v.I. forming a square of 576 by 535 feet. remarkable especially the ea-tern facade. for its architectural beauty, The Louvre. formerly a royal residence, was connected with the celebrated palace of the Tuileries (q.v.) by a great picture gallery. and between the two palaces lay the Place du Car rousel. further entitle( tei t he Tuileries and Louvre on the northern -id,, throw ing them into one vast building, which formed the most palatial structure in the world. The Tuileries continued to be occupied as the resi dence of the Imperial family; but the Louvre proper, with its series of great galleries. formed a vast museum of pictures, sculptures, and col lections of Egyptian. Greek, and Roman antiqui ties. The Communists of 1871 attempted to burn the whole pile and succeeded in destroying the Tuileries and a corner of the Louvre. The li brary of the Louvre, with its contents, was burned, but the rest of the building and its price less treasures were saved. North of the Louvre is the Palais Royal (q.v.). and north of the Pa his Royal is the Bourse or Exchange. a beau tiful structtn•e in style, surrounded by sixty-six Corinthian columns; to the east, on the north bank of the Seine, opposite the lle de la CitF, is the Hotel de Since 1871. when it was burned by the Communists, it has been carefully rebuilt in the style of its predeces sor. and is one of the most magnificent build ings in Paris. It is the residence of the prefect of the wine, and includes all the offices for the transaction of the municipal business of Paris. Not far from the Hotel de Ville is the Tour Saint Jacques, a square Gothic tower 175 feet high. dating from 1504-22. and until recently utilized as an atmospherical observatory: it affords one of the finest views in Paris. Almost opposite, on the northern bank of the stands the vast Palais de Justice, originally the resi dence of the kings of France; some parts of it date from the fourteenth century, others are modern. It is the seat of sonic of the courts of law, as the Court of Cassation, the tribunals of the first appeal, and of police. Within the pre cincts of this palace are the Sainte Chapelle, and the noted old prison of the Conciergerie, in which Marie Antoinqte, Danton, and Robespierre were successively confined. The Coneiergerie, in which prisoners are lodged pending their trial. consti tuted one of the eight prisons of Paris, of which the principal were La Force. Saint Pidagie, Saint Lazare, Mazas, and La Roquette. The latter have been replaced by the modern prison of Fresnes-les-Rungis, which covers fifty acres, the Coneiergerie alone being retained.
Among other notable features on the north of the river are the mammoth EaIles Centrales or Central Markets, the Mare116 du Temple, and the Pare des Buttes Chaumont. The palace of the Luxembourg, (q.v.), on the south side of the Seine, was built in the Florentine style by Jacques Debrosse for Marie de' Medic. It con tains many magnificent rooms and the celebrated museum devoted to the exhibition of the works of modern artists and other notable features. Also on the south side of the river are the So-bonne (q.v.), the centre of the famous Latin Quarter, the I'anthi•ou (qx.). the Jardin des Plantes. the large Halle aux Vins, the Hospice de la SaliOtriere, the Observatory, and the Cemetery of Mont Parnasse.
Paris has many theatres and places of amuse ment. suited to the tastes and means of every class. The leading houses, as the Op(.ra. Th('Stre Franais—ehiefly devoted to classical French drama-0(1(mm TImOStre Italien. etc.. receive a
subvention from the Government, and all are under strict police supervision. The new opera house. completed in 1875, is a magnificent build ing. costing. exchlsive of the site, $5.600,000.
It is at present the largest theatre in the world, occupying an area of nearly three acres; its most striking features are the magnificent Grand Staircase and the Foyer with admirable decora tions. Cheap concerts, equestrian performances, and public balls. held in the open air in sum mer, supply a constant round of gayety to the burgher and working classes at a moderate cost, and form a characteristic feature of Parisian life.
Among the large number of churches, the grandest and most interesting from an historic point of view is the Cathedral of Notre Panic (q.v.), which stands on a site on the Ile de la successively occupied by a Pagan temple and a Christian basilica of the time of the Merovingian kings. The present building was constructed between 1163 and the end of the thirteenth century; since then it has been fre quently altered, and in its present state of restored magnificence ranks as one of the noblest specimens of Gothic architecture. Saint Ger main-des-Pres, which is probably the most ancient church in Paris. was completed in 1163; Saint Etienne du Mont and Saint Ger main FAuxerrois. both ancient, are interesting— the former for its picturesque and quaint decora tions, and for containing the tomb of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris; and the latter for its rich decorations and the frescoed portal, restored at the wish of Alargaret of Valois, and for the fact that from its little bell tower the signal was given for the massacre of the Huguenots on Saint Bartholomew's night. The Sainte Chapelle, built by Saint Louis in 1245-48 for the reception of the various relics which be had brought from the lfoly Land, is one of the Most remarkable buildings in Paris, profusely decorated in all parts with brilliantly colored materials, In Saint Eustache, erected 1532-1637, the Feast of Reason was celebrated in 1793; here is performed probably the finest religious music in Paris. Saint Sulpiee, finished in 1749, is noticeable for its size, measuring 462 feet in length. 183 feet in width, and 108 feet in height. Among modern churches are: the Made leine (q.v.). built in imitation of a Greek temple, and surrounded by a colonnade of fifty-four mas sive Corinthian columns; the building having no windows, the light enters through the ceiling of the three cupolas surmounting it; the interior is gorgeous with gildings, frescoes, carvings, marbles, and statues; the Panth(mn (q.v.), which was begun as a church, but converted by the Con stituent Assembly at the time of the Revolution into a temple dedicated to the great men of the nation, was restored to the Church by Napoleon III, and rededicated to Saint Genevieve, but was definitely secularized in 1885. when Victor Hugo was buried there; Notre Dame de Lorette, erected in 1823. a flagrant specimen of the meretricious taste of the day; Saint Vincent de Paul, com pleted in 1844, somewhat more imposing in style; and, crowning the height of Montmartre, the national votive church of the Saeri Coml., begun in 1875. a Romanesque edifice with a Byzantine dome and campanile respectively 197 feet and 263 feet high. Among the Protestant churches. L'Oratoire is the largest and the best known.
Paris has a number of cemeteries, of which the principal one is Pere Lachaise, extending over 110 acres, and filled in every part with monuments erected to the memory of the multi tulle of celebrated persons who have been buried here. The on the lie de In ('its . behind the Cathedral of Notre Dame, is a building in which the bodies of unknown persons who have met with a violent death are placed. These, if not claimed within three days. are buried at the public expense. The southern parts of the city are built over beds of limestonc, rich in fossils. which have been so extensively quarried as to have become a mere network of vast caverns. which iu -one cases scarcely afford sufficient support to the houses above. These quarries were converted into catacombs in 1784, and there are deposited the bones of the dead collected from the ancient cemeteries of Paris.