Page 133 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

The Shakespeare and Company bookshop

THE LEFT BANK

The Left Bank is one of the city’s oldest areas – the
site of the ancient Paris Mint, founded in 864 AD,
and ruined Gallo-Roman baths, now hidden beneath
the medieval Hôtel de Cluny. The Sorbonne, France’s
first university, was founded in 1253 in the Latin
Quarter, which cemented its position as a centre
of learning. In the 16th century, Marie de’ Medici
built the Jardins du Luxembourg, with its Baroque
palace, designed to remind her of her native
Florence. She was also a fervent patron of the
arts and under her care the area’s reputation as
a bohemian enclave flour ished. As a result, in the
centuries that followed, the Left Bank became a
beacon for poets, philoso phers, artists – and
radical thinkers. It was, then, a natural home for
the centre of the Paris Commune, the revolu-
tionary govern ment that ruled the city for two
months in 1871. Following World War II, this
district once again became synonymous with
Parisian intellectual society, fuelled by its many
pavement cafés, and politics. In 1958, the French
Senate moved into the Palais du Luxembourg.
Ten years later, the Left Bank became the scene
of student riots, but since then has become better
known for the diverse shops and avant-garde
theatres that line its labryinthine streets.
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