User:Equendil/Paris timeline

Paris has had a rich history spanning millenia. Largely spared the ravages of war in the last thousand years, it left many landmarks, symbolic of its status as a seat of power, or simply retracing the life of the city through the ages.

As a Gallo-Roman town, Paris is known as Lutetia, following its capture in 52BC by the Roman Republic. Little remains of that period, save from the thermae (Thermes de Cluny) and an amphitheatre (Arènes de Lutèce). The city was renamed to Paris in AD 360.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Paris was taken by the Franks in 464. Clovis I made the city his capital in 506. The Merovingian kings died out in 751, to be replaced by the Carolingians. Charlemagne moved the capital of his empire from Paris to Aachen. Paris was then neglected by the empire, repeatedly raided by Vikings and sacked in the 9th century. in 885, Paris was again under siege, but the Vikings were successfully repelled by Odo, Count of Paris, who became king of Western Francia. His grandnephew Hugh Capet acceding to the throne in 987, founded the Capetian dynasty and made Paris his capital.

Of the early medieval city, largely made of timber, virtually nothing remains. Churches were established during that period, but present-day religious edifices date from a later period. A merovingian palace existed on the Île de la Cité, later becoming the seat of power of the Kings of France beginning with the Capetian line.

Under the Capetians, Paris developed an increasing degree of importance as a royal capital, a centre of learning and an ecclesiastical centre. Under the rule of Philippe Auguste, who took the throne in 1180, a number of major building works were carried out in Paris. He built a new city wall and began the construction of the Palais du Louvre, as well as paving streets and establishing a covered market at Les Halles (where it would remain until 1969).

His grandson Louis IX established the city as a major centre of pilgrimage in the 13th century with the construction of the Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité, and the completion of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris and the Saint Denis Basilica.

The Direct Capetian line died out in 1328, leaving no male heir. Edward III of England claimed the French throne by virtue of his descent (via his mother) from Philip IV of France. This was rejected by the French barons, who supported the rival claim of Philippe of Valois (Philip VI of France). The Hundred Years' War thus began, followed swiftly by the arrival of the Black Death. Paris' history in the 14th century was punctuated by outbreaks of plague, political violence and popular uprisings.

The Palais de la Cité of which the towers of the Conciergerie remain, had been the royal residence of the Capetians, but was abandonned under the Valois for the Louvre fortress. Under Charles V, a new city wall was built, as well as the Bastille fortress, extension of the Château de Vincennes was carried out, and the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye was rebuilt.

Francis I is considered the first Renaissance monarch of France. He had the Louvre rebuilt, and financed the construction of the Hôtel de Ville.

The Bourbons succeeded the Valois in 1594. Henry IV undertook a number of major public works in the city, including extensions to the Louvre and construction of the Pont Neuf, Place des Vosges, Place Dauphine, and Hôpital Saint-Louis. Grandiose constructions were undertaken during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The Tuileries palace was established by Catherine de Médicis, the Palais du Luxembourg by Marie de' Medici, Cardinal de Richelieu built the Palais Royal and rebuilt the Sorbonne. The Chateau de Versailles began as a hunting lodge under Louis XIII, later extended under Louis XIV who made it his seat of power. The Palais Bourbon, Ecole militaire, Panthéon, Invalides, or the Observatoire de Paris are other examples of Paris' transformation under Louis XIV, also marking the revival of classical architecture, and the Englightenment era.

Shortly before the revolution, the Wall of the Farmers-General was erected around Paris, to insure the payment of a toll on goods entering Paris to the Ferme générale. New cemetaries were opened outside the limits of the city, such as that of the Père Lachaise, as old cemetaries within Paris were closed and human remains moved to the catacombs. Paris underwent further transformation during the revolution and Napoleonic era. The Bastille prison was stormed and razed. New canals such as the Canal Saint-Martin were built to supply fresh water to Paris. Napoléon ordered monuments to the glory of the Empire, modelled on Roman monuments, such as the Arc de Triomphe, or the Eglise de la Madeleine. The Palais Brongniart was built to house the Bourse of Paris established by Napoléon. The Tour du Temple and Grand Châtelet were demolished.

In the 1830's, Paris was circled by fortifications, the Enceinte de Thiers.

The second part of the 19th century brought even more changes to Paris. Napoléon III who became Emperor in 1952, decided to modernise Paris, which was carried out by Baron Haussmann. As part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris, large avenues and boulevards were opened through Paris or widened, neighbouring towns were annexed, extending the city to the Enceinte de Thiers and its modern limits. Public parks were laid out to bring green spaces to Parisians: Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Parc Monceau, Parc Montsouris, Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes. Prestigious edifices were built, such as the Opéra Garnier, Église Saint-Augustin de Paris or Église de la Sainte-Trinité. Work continued after the fall of the Second Empire.

The second part of the 19th century in Europe was also marked by Universal Expositions, where nations exhibited their technology, art or colonial power. Five such expos occured in Paris between 1855 and 1900 and another one in 1937. Many temporary edifices and international pavilions were built for the exhibitions, some of which remain standing. The Palais de l'Industrie was built for the Exposition of 1855, demolished to make way for the Grand Palais for the Exposition of 1900, together with the Petit Palais and Pont Alexandre III. The Palais du Trocadéro was built for 1878, later replaced by the Palais de Chaillot for another Exposition in 1937. The Eiffel Tower was the entrance arch for the Exposition of 1889, saved from demolition to become an icon of Paris. Railway stations and the first line of the Métropolitain were hurried to coincide with Expositions.

As the Belle Époque died with the first world war and Paris was hit by the Great Depression in the interwar period then occupied by German forces in World War II, major developments all but ceased until France had recovered from the war. Efforts were made to modernise the banlieues of Paris. Urban slums in proximity of Paris were dismantled and social housing constructed, creating a number of cités outside Paris, where immigrants and lower classes were massed. Inside Paris, high rise buildings were constructed in the 13th arrondissement, south of the city. A business district known as La Défense began emerging just outside Paris in the 70's,

Outside Paris
The following entries, although in close proximity and commonly associated to Paris, are located in bordering suburbs.