The Louvre (Paris)
Rue de Rivoli, 1st district, right bank river Seine
Central landmark, world’s largest museum
Historic monument
Architects:Pierre Lescot, Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau
12th century built as fortress to protect Paris from Viking attacks
14th century converted into palace for French Kings
Renovated in French Renaissance style
During the French Revolution, designated by the National Assembly as a public museum displaying the nation’s masterpieces
1793 opened on first anniversary of the monarchy’s demise
1871 sacked by socialist revolutionaries
1989 glass pyramid constructed in main court
Architect: I. M. Pei
1993 The Inverted Pyramid completed
Two of each included in gift box
$4.00
More Landmarks in Paris
Medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité
Notre Dame, Notre-Dame de Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame
1163 Cornerstone laid
French Gothic architecture–among first buildings using flying buttresses
Architects: Pierre de Montreuil, Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus
1345, opened (420′)
1548 rioting Huguenots (Protestants) damaged “idolatrous” features of Notre-Dame
1573 site of Henry of Valois vow to respect traditional liberties and recently passed religious freedom law
Site of various coronations, royal marriages, funerals
1790s much religious imagery damaged or destroyed during French Revolution (including beheading of statues of kings of Judah, mistakenly thought to be French kings)
1804 coronation Napoleon I and wife Josephine
1845 extensive restoration began
1920 Joan of Arc canonized
1991 further restoration and maintenance
Damaged during Second World War
August 1944 Île de la Cité taken by French and Allied troops and elements of the Resistance, tolling of Cathedral’s Emmanuel (bell) announced liberating of Paris
2019, fire damaging roof and turrets
2021, reconstruction begins
2024, reopening ceremonies
Two of each included in gift box
Located at summit of Montmartre, highest point in Paris
The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris, Sacré-Cœur
Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Architects: Paul Abadie, Lucien Magne, Charles Laisné, Henri-Pierre-Marie Rauline, Honoré Daumet, Jean-Louis Hulot
Architectural styles: Ancient Roman, Byzantine
1870, proclamation of the Third Republic, design for basilica originated, speech by Bishop Fournier refers to” a century of moral decline” since French Revolution
1872 Archbishop of Paris martyred for the resurgent Catholic Church
1873 bishop of Poitiers expressed national yearning for spiritual renewal— “the hour of the Church has come” Sacré-Cœur considered a triumphalist monument to the Third Republic’s linking of Catholic institutions with secular ones, in “a project of religious and national renewal”
1875 Groundbreaking
1914 opened
1919 consecrated after the end of World War I
People come from around the world to pray in this place of pilgrimage
Two of each included in the gift box
Center Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly Place de l’Étoile—star of the juncture formed by twelve radiating avenues
Western end, Champs-Élysées
L’Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, Triumphal Arch of the Star
Architects: Jean Chalgrin, Jean-Nicolas Huyot, Jean-Arnaud Raymond, Louis-Robert Goust, Guillaume Abel Blouet
1806 construction began
Height 162′
Famous victory marches around or under the Arc:
1871 Germans
1919 French
1940 Germans
1944 French and Allies–Arc de Triomphe in background as victorious American troops march down the Champs-Élysées and U.S. airplanes fly overhead
Two of each included in gift box
5 Avenue Anatole
Wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars
Named after Gustave Eiffel, engineer whose company designed and built the tower
Architects: Gustave Eiffel, Stephen Sauvestre
1887 construction began Height 984’ Intended as entrance for 1889 World’s Fair, (Exposition Universelle, celebrating centennial of French Revolution)
Design initially criticized by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals
Has become global cultural icon of France, one of world’s most recognized structures
Panoramic view of the City Of Light seen from the tower’s platforms
Two of each included in gift box
Rue de Rivoli, 1st district, right bank river Seine
Central landmark, world’s largest museum
Historic monument
Architects:Pierre Lescot, Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau
12th century built as fortress to protect Paris from Viking attacks
14th century converted into palace for French Kings
Renovated in French Renaissance style
During the French Revolution, designated by the National Assembly as a public museum displaying the nation’s masterpieces
1793 opened on first anniversary of the monarchy’s demise
1871 sacked by socialist revolutionaries
1989 glass pyramid constructed in main court
Architect: I. M. Pei
1993 The Inverted Pyramid completed
Two of each included in gift box
