ing them into one vast building, which formed
the most palatial structure in the world. The
Tuilerics continued to be occupied as the resi-
dence of the Imperial family; but the Louvre
proper, with its scries of great galleries, formed
a vast museum of pictures, sculptures, and col-
lections of Kgyptian. Greek, an<l Roman antiqui-
ties. The Communists of 1S71 attempted to burn
the whole pile and succeedcil 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
Palais Royal is thc_Bourse or Exchange, a beau-
tiful structure in Graeco-Roman style, surrounded
by si.ty-six Corinthian columns ; to the east, on
the north bank of the Seine, opposite the lie
de la Cite, is the Hotel de Ville.- 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 Seine, and includes all the offices for the
transaction of the municipal business of Paris.
Kot far from the Hotel de Ville is the Tour
Saint .Iac(|ucs, a square Gothic tower 17.5 feet
high, dating from 1504-22. and imtil recently
utilized as an atmospherical ob.servatory ; it
affords one of the finest views in Paris. Almost
opposite, on the northern bank of the Cite, 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 some of the courts of
law, as the Court of Cassation, the tribunals of
the first appeal, and of police. Within tlic pre-
cincts of this palace are the Saintc Chapelle, and
the noted oUl prison of the Conciergerie. in which
Marie Antoinet^te, Danton, and Robespierre were
successively confined. The Conciergerie, 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 Pelagic, Saint
Laziire. ilazas, and La Roquette. The latter
have been replaced by the modern prison of
Fresnes-les-Rungis, which covers fifty acres, the
Conciergerie alone being retained.
Among other notable features on the north of
the river are the mammoth Halles Centrales or
Central ilarkets, the ]March^ 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 ^larie de' Jledici. It con-
tains many magnificent rooms and the celebrated
nuiseum devoted to the exhibition of the works
of modern artists and other notable features.
Also on the south side of the river are the
Sorbonne (q.v.), the centre of the famous Latin
Quarter, the Pantheon (q.v.), the .Tardin des
Plantes. the large Halle aux Vins, the Hospice
<Je la Salpotri&re. the Obser'atory, and the
Cemetery of llont Parnasse.
Paris has many theatres and places of amuse-
ment, suited to the tastes and means of every
class. The leading houses, as the OpCra. Theatre
Francais — chiefly devoted to classical French
drama — Odeon. Theatre Italien. etc.. receive a
subvention from the Government, and all are
under strict police supervision. The new opera
house, completed in 1S75, is a magnificent build-
ing, costing, exclusive of the site, $5,000,000.
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
jjoint of view is the Cathedral of Notre Dame
(q.v.), which stands on a site on the lie de la
Cite, successively occupied by a Pagan temple
and a Christian basilica of the time of the
Merovingian kings. The present bxiilding was
constructed between 1103 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-Pr6s, which is probably the most
ancient church in Paris, was comi)leted in
1103: Saint Etienne du ilont and Saint Ger-
main TAuxerrois, both ancient, are interesting —
the former for its picturesque and quaint decora-
tions, and for containing the tomb of Saint
Genevi&ve, the patron saint of Paris; and the
latter for its rich decorations and the frescoed
portal, restored at the wish of Margaret 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 he had brought from the Holy 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
171(3; here is performed probably the finest
religious music in Paris. Saint Sulpice, 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 (ireek 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 surnmunting it; the interior
is gorgeous with gildings, frescoes, carvings,
marbles, and statues; the Panthton (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 (ienevi&vc. but was
definitely secularized in 1885. when Victor Hugo
was buried there; Notre Dame de Lorettc. erected
in 1823, a flagrant specimen of the meretricious
taste of the dav: Saint Vincent de Paul, com-
pleted in 1844, somewhat more imposing in style :
and. crowning the height of ilontniartre, the
national votive church of the Sacre Co'ur, begun
in 1875, a Romanesque edifice with a Byzantine
dome and campanile respectively 107 feet nnd
203 feet high. Among the Protestant churches.
L'Oratoire is the largest and the best known.
Paris has a number of cemeteries, of whiih
the principal one is P^re Lachaise, extending
over 110 acres, and filled in every part with
monuments erected to the memorv of the multi-
Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/409
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