Page 100 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

A SHORT WALK
ÎLE DE LA CITÉ

Distance 1.5 km (1 mile) Nearest metro Cité
Time 20 minutes
EXPERIENCE Paris: Île de la Cité, Marais and Beaubourg
The origins of Paris are on the Île de la Cité, the A grisly The colourful Marché
boat-shaped island on the Seine first inhabited ante chamber to aux Fleurs Reine
over 2,000 years ago by Celtic tribes. There is the guillotine, the Elizabeth II is one of
Conciergerie
Paris’s few remaining
no older place in Paris, and remains of the first prison was much flower markets. Birds
buildings can still be seen today in the archaeo- used in the are still sold at the
logical crypt under the square in front of Revolution (p94). Sunday market.
Notre-Dame. A stroll of this part of the city
takes you from one Parisian icon – the
great medieval cathedral – to another:
the Gothic masterpiece that is U E
Ste-Chapelle. A G
T N
N A E
O H M
P C A
T D
N
The Cour du Mai O E -
is the impressive L A C O R S E P R
Q U A I D E
main courtyard of T
the Palais de Justice. N O
S
I
A
START A L R U E D E L U T E C E
P

U
A jewel of Gothic D
architecture, and one of Q U A I D E S O R F È V R E S D
the most magical sights L V
in Paris, Ste-Chapelle B E
is noted for the I T
magnificence of its C
PONT S T- L
stained glass (p92). A
MICHEL
The Quai des Orfèvres D E
owes its name to the E PLACE
goldsmiths (orfèvres) who U NOTRE-DAME
DU PARVIS
frequented the area from Q U A I D U M A R C H E N E U F R
medieval times onwards.
With its ancient towers lining The Préfecture de T T
the quays, the Palais de Justice Police was the scene of a T I N
has a history that extends back number of intense battles E O
over 16 centuries (p94). during World War II. P P
Deep under the square, in
the Crypte Archéologique, P O N T A U
lie the remains of houses D O U B L E
from 2,000 years ago (p95).
A riverside view
of the Conciergerie,
a former prison

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