Architecture sights in Paris
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Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris
Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris is the true heart of Paris; in fact, distances from Paris to all parts of metropolitan France are measured from place du Parvis Notre Dame, the square in front of Notre Dame. A bronze star, set in the pavement across from the main entrance, marks the exact location of point zéro des routes de France (point zero of French roads).
Notre Dame, the most visited site in Paris, with 10 million people crossing its threshold each year, is not just a masterpiece of French Gothic architecture but has also been the focus of Catholic Paris for seven centuries. Constructed on a site occupied by earlier churches – and, a millennium before that, a Gal…
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Arènes de Lutèce
The 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre, Lutetia Arena, once sat around 10,000 people for gladiatorial combats and other events. Found by accident in 1869 when rue Monge was under construction, it’s now used by neighbourhood youths for playing football, and by old men for boules and pétanque (a variant on the game of bowls) .
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Grande Pyramide
The main entrance and ticket windows in the Cour Napoléon are covered by the 21m-high Grande Pyramide, a glass pyramid designed by the Chinese-born American architect IM Pei. You can avoid the queues outside the pyramid or at the Porte des Lions entrance by entering the Louvre complex via the Carrousel du Louvre entrance, at 99 rue de Rivoli, or by following the ‘Musée du Louvre’ exit from the Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre metro station. Buy your tickets in advance from the ticket machines in the Carrousel du Louvre, online or by ringing 08 92 68 36 22 or 08 25 34 63 46, or from the billeteries (ticket offices) of Fnac for an extra €1.10, and walk straight in witho…
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Chapelle Expiatoire
The austere, neoclassical Atonement Chapel, opposite 36 rue Pasquier, sits atop the section of a cemetery where Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and many other victims of the Reign of Terror were buried after their executions in 1793. It was erected by Louis’ brother, the restored Bourbon king Louis XVIII, in 1815. Two years later the royal bones were removed to the Basilique de St-Denis.
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Église du Dôme
Église du Dôme has a sparkling golden dome (1677–1735) and is one of the finest religious edifices erected under Louis XIV. It received the remains of Napoleon in 1840. The very extravagant Tombeau de Napoléon 1er, in the centre of the church, comprises six coffins fitting into one another like a Russian matryoshka doll.
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Église Notre Dame de l’Espérance
Startling both for its modern design and size (it stands 20m tall and is 11m wide), the interior of the Church of Our Lady of Hope (Bruno Legrand, 1997) is filled with interesting features, including Nicolas Alquin’s Croix d’Espérance (Cross of Hope) made from an 18th-century oak beam and three gold squares representing the Trinity.
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Immeuble des Bons Enfants
Home to the Ministère de la Culture et Communication (Ministry of Culture & Communication), this inspired structure (Francis Soler and Frédéric Druot, 2004) is actually two separate and disparate buildings ‘linked’ by a metallic web of ‘tracery’ that lets in light and allows the diversity of the existing buildings to be seen.
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Les Orgues de Flandre
These two enormous housing estates are known as ‘the Organs of Flanders’ due to their resemblance to that musical instrument and their street address. Storeys are stacked at oblique angles and the structures appear to be swaying, though they are firmly anchored at the end of a park south of the blvd Périphérique.
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Palais de la Porte Dorée
Built as part of the Exposition Coloniale Internationale of 1931 when all seemed right with the world at home and abroad, the lavish ‘Palace of the Golden Door’, which retains some delightful Art Deco elements including frescoes of the peoples of the world, today houses two major attractions.
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Église Notre Dame de la Pentecôte
When the crowds of suits gets you down, head for the futuristic Our Lady of the Pentecost Catholic Church and its sublime interior. Check out the flame-shaped pulpit, the image of the Virgin Mary that looks uncannily like the Buddha, and the individual chairs that unfold to create benches.
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Palais de l'Élysée
Some 400m north of av des Champs-Élysées is rue du Faubourg St-Honoré (8e), the western extension of rue St-Honoré. It has renowned couture houses, jewellers, antique shops and the 18th-century Palais de l’Élysée, which is the official residence of the French president.
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Pavillon de l’Arsenal
Contemporary architecture in the capital is the focus of the permanent 800-sq-metre exhibition called ‘Paris, Visite Guidée’ (Paris, a Guided Tour) at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, which is the city’s town-planning and architectural centre. It also has rotating exhibits.
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Maison de Verre
One of the best examples of modernist architecture in all of Paris is the Maison de Verre, the exquisite ‘Glass House’ designed by Pierre Chareau and completed in 1932. Unfortunately only architects and architecture students get the green light to visit the interior.
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Marché de St-Honoré
This monumental glass hall (Ricardo Bofill, 1996) of offices and shops replaces an unsightly parking garage (now underground) and evokes the wonderful passages couverts (covered shopping arcades) that begin a short distance to the northeast.
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Crèche
This day nursery (Marc Younan, 2002) of wood and resin in the garden of the Couvent des Récollets looks like a jumbled pile of gold- and mustard-coloured building blocks. A central glass atrium functions as a ‘village square’.
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Hôtel du Petit Luxembourg
The heavily guarded Hôtel du Petit Luxembourg was the modest 16th-century pad where Marie de Médici lived while Palace du Luxembourg was being built. The president of the Senate has called it home since 1825.
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Direction de l’Action Sociale Building
The headquarters of Social Action (Aymeric Zublena, 1991) is unabashed in proclaiming the power of the state, with a huge square within, and vast glass-and-metal gates.
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Ministère des Affaires Étrangères
Next door to the National Assembly is the Second Empire-style Ministère des Affaires Étrangères, built between 1845 and 1855.
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