Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/409

PARIS. 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 The latter have been replaced by the modern prison of Fresnes-les-Rungis, which covers fifty acres, the Conciergerie alone being retained.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-