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Districts
and Historical Centers
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Most of the Paris we see today is a result of a 19th century renovation, but the boulevards and arrondissement divisions were but a new grid bisecting quarters built by centuries of Parisian habit; it is for this Paris has many quarters that are not necessarily mentioned on any administrative map.
Although Paris' origins are in its Left Bank, Parisians began to move to the newly-dried swampland of the Right bank around the 10th century, leaving the Left Bank to ecclesiastical and scholastic institutions. Commerce was at its highest around the Châtelet bridge guardhouse and Place de Grève port, a market quarter that would later become Les Halles, artisans tended to keep to the east of the city, and the more noble residences and shops were always near the royal palaces. Although many are split between several arrondissements, most of these tendencies are still hold true in Paris today.
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Place de la Bastille
(4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, right bank) being one of the
most historic districts, being a location of an essential event of
not only Paris, but the whole country of France. Because of
its historical value the square is often used for political demonstrations,
including the massive anti-CPE demonstration of March 28, 2006.
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Champs-Élysées
(8th arrondissement, right bank) is a seventeenth century garden-promenade
turned avenue connecting the Concorde and Arc de Triomphe. It is one
of the many tourist attractions and a major shopping street of Paris.
This avenue has been called "la plus belle avenue du monde"
("the most beautiful avenue in the world").
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Place de la Concorde
(8th arrondissement, right bank) is at the foot of the Champs-Élysées,
built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous guillotine.
The Egyptian obelisk is Paris' "oldest monument".
On this place, on the two side of the Rue Royale live two identical
stone buildings: the eastern houses the French Naval Ministry, the
western the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon. Nearby Place Vendôme
is famous for its fashionable and deluxe hotels (Hotel Ritz and Hôtel
de Vendôme) and its jewellers. Many famous fashion designers
have had their salons in the square.
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Les Halles (1st arrondissement,
right bank) was formerly Paris' central meat and produce market, since
the late 1970s a major shopping centre around an important metro connection
station (Châtelet-Les Halles, the biggest in Europe). The past
Les Halles was destroyed in 1971 and replaced by the Forum des Halles.
The central market of Paris, the biggest wholesale food market
in the world, was transferred to Rungis, in the southern suburbs.
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Le Marais (3rd and 4th arrondissements)
is a trendy Right Bank district. With large gay and Jewish populations
it is a very culturally open place.
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Avenue Montaigne (8th
arrondissement), next to the Champs-Élysées, is home
to luxury brand labels such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton (LVMH), Dior
and Givenchy.
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Montmartre (18th arrondissement,
right bank) is a historic area on the Butte, home to the Basilica
of the Sacré Coeur. Montmartre has always had a history with
artists and has many studios and cafés of many great artists
in that area.
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Montparnasse (14th arrondissement)
is a historic Left Bank area famous for artists studios, music halls,
and café life. The large Montparnasse - Bienvenüe métro
station and the lone Tour Montparnasse skyscraper are located there.
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L'Opéra (9th arrondissement, right bank) is the area
around the Opéra Garnier is a home to the capital's densest
concentration of both department stores and offices. A few examples
are the Printemps and Galeries Lafayette grands magasins (department
stores), and the Paris headquarters of financial giants such
as Crédit Lyonnais and American Express.
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Latin Quarter
(Quartier Latin) (5th and 6th arrondissements, left
bank) is a twelfth century scholastic centre formerly stretching between
the Left Bank's Place Maubert and the Sorbonne campus. It is known
for its lively atmosphere and many bistros. With various higher education
establishments, such as the École Normale Supérieure,
ParisTech and the Jussieu university campus make it a major educational
centre in Paris, which also contributes to its atmosphere.
• Faubourg Saint-Honoré (8th arrondissement, right bank) is one of Paris' high-fashion districts, home to labels such as Hermès and Christian Lacroix.
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La Défense (straddling the communes of Courbevoie, Puteaux,
and Nanterre, 2.5 km/1.5 miles west of the City of Paris) is
a key suburb of Paris and is one of the largest business centres in
the world. Built at the western end of a westward extension of Paris'
historical axis from the Champs-Élysées, La Défense
consists mainly of business highrises. Initiated by the French government
in 1958, the district hosts 3.5 million m² of offices, making
of it the largest district in Europe specifically developed for business.
The Grande Arche (Great Arch) of la Défense, which houses a
part of the French Transports Minister's headquarters, ends the central
Esplanade around which the district is organised.
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Plaine Saint-Denis (straddling the communes of Saint-Denis,
Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen, immediately north of the 18th arrondissement,
across the Périphérique ring road) is a formerly derelict
manufacturing area which has undergone massive regeneration in the
last 10 years. It now hosts the Stade de France around which is being
built the new business district of LandyFrance, with two RER stations
(on RER line B and D) and possibly some skyscrapers. In the Plaine
Saint-Denis are also located most of France's television studios as
well as some major movie studios.
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Val de Seine (straddling the 15th arrondissement and the communes
of Issy-les-Moulineaux and Boulogne-Billancourt to the south-west
of central Paris) is the new media hub of Paris and France, hosting
the headquarters of most of France's TV networks (TF1 in Boulogne-Billancourt,
France 2 in the 15th arrondissement, Canal+ and the international
channels France 24 and Eurosport in Issy-les-Moulineaux), as well
as several telecommunication and IT companies such as Neuf Cegetel
in Boulogne-Billancourt or Microsoft's Europe, Africa & Middle
East regional headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux.
