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ABOUT PARIS

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres. The city forms the centre and headquarters of the Île-de-France, or Paris Region, which has an area of 12,012 square kilometres.

Paris was founded in the 3rd century BC by Celtic people called the Parisii; who gave the city its name. By the 12th century, it was the largest city in the western world, a prosperous trading centre, and the home of the University of Paris, one of the oldest universities in history. By the 17th century Paris was one of Europe’s major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today.

The Paris Region is one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. It is the banking and financial centre of France and contains the headquarters of 29 of the 31 French companies ranked in the 2015 Fortune Global 500.The city is also connected with major rail, highway, and air-transport hub, served by the two international airports: Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly.

Among Paris’s important museums and cultural institutions are the most-visited art museum in the world, the Louvre, as well as the Musée d’Orsay, noted for its collection of French Impressionist art, and the Musée National d’Art Moderne in the Pompidou Centre, the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. The central area of the city along the Seine River is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site, and includes many notable monuments, including Notre Dame Cathedral (12th century to 13th century); the Sainte-Chapelle (13th century); the Eiffel Tower (1889); the Grand Palais and Petit Palais (1900); and the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre(1914).

In 2015 Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the world’s top tourist destinations. It is also known for its fashion, particularly the twice-yearly Paris Fashion Week, and for its haute cuisine, and three-star restaurants. Most of France’s major universities and grandes écoles are located in Paris, as are France’s major newspapers, including Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Libération.

PARIS FAMOUS LANDMARKS

Paris, the capital of France, has an annual 30 million foreign visitors, and so is one of the most visited cities in the world. Paris’ sights include monuments and architecture, such as its Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and neo-classic Haussmannian boulevards and buildings as well as museums, operas and concert halls. There are also more modern attractions such as its suburban Disneyland Paris. With its many monuments, the city is a symbol of French culture, and attracts nearly three million visitors per year.

Museums

• Centre Georges-Pompidou – 20th-century modern art museum, hosting the Paris Museum of Modern Art
• Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie – a hands-on science museum that attracts over two million visitors yearly
• The Louvre – one of the world’s largest museums and a historic monument
• Musée des Arts et Métiers – Museum of Arts and Crafts that houses the collection of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (National Conservatory of Arts and Industry), which was founded in 1794 as a repository for the preservation of scientific instruments and inventions
• Musée d’Orsay – 19th-century paintings, one of the largest Impressionist exhibits, housed in a former rail station
• Muséum national d’histoire naturelle – National Museum of Natural History
• Parc de la Villette – hosting the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, a science museum, and the Cité de la Musique, which houses various musical institutes, a museum, and a concert hall

Monuments

• The Arc de Triomphe – monument at the center of the Place de l’Étoile, commemorating the victories of France and honoring those who died in battle
• The Conciergerie – located on the Île de la Cité; a medieval building which was formerly used as a prison where some prominent members of the ancien régimestayed before their death during the French Revolution
• The Eiffel Tower – a construction of Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 Universal Exposition
• The Grand Palais – a large glass exhibition hall built for the 1900 Paris Exhibition
• Les Invalides – complex containing museums and monuments relating to the military history of France
• The Palais Garnier – Paris’s central opera house, built in the later Second Empire period
• The Panthéon – church and tomb of a number of France’s most famed men and women
• Place des Vosges – square in the Marais districte
• Place Vendôme

Churches

• Basilica of the Sacré Cœur – located in the district of Montmartre
• The Montmartre Cemetery – located in the district of Montmartre
• Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral – Paris’s 12th-century ecclesiastical centrepiece on the Île de la Cité
• The Père Lachaise Cemetery – a romantic cemetery.
• Sainte-Chapelle – a 13th-century Gothic palace chapel, also located on the Île de la Cité
• Church of St Eustache – a 16th-century Gothic church in the district of Les Halles
• La Madeleine – a 19th-century church designed as a Roman temple
• Grand Mosque of Paris – a large mosque, the first ever built in Metropolitan France

Others

• Montmartre- an old district of Paris on a hill containing the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the Place du Tertre.
• The Sorbonne – one of the universities of Paris (Paris IV), the centre of Paris’s Latin Quarter.
• Statue of Liberty replicas – A smaller version of the New York City harbor statue which France gave to the United States in 1886, located on the Île aux Cygnes on the Seine in the Front de Seine district.
• Another smaller version is in the Luxembourg Garden.
• Flame of Liberty- replica of the flame held by the Statue of Liberty
• Pasteur Institute and museum

PARIS AIRPORTS

Major Airports serving Paris, France:

• Charles de Gaulle Airport – Paris’s main international airport
• Orly Airport – Paris’s second international airport
• Beauvais-Tillé Airport – the airport of Beauvais, serving as Paris airportfor budget airlines
• Paris–Le Bourget Airport – the original city airport
• Châlons Vatry Airport – cargo airport at Châlons-en-Champagne, another airport serving as Paris airportfor budget airlines

Information Source : www.wikipedia.org