Paris… from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomphe, to Notre Dame, it seems this city is jam-packed with history. But how far does this history go back, and is anything left today of Paris’ origins?
Today, we’re going to go back in time nearly 2000 years and discover a few key places that have amazingly survived to this day in modern-day Paris:
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– Rue Saint Jacques:
From the top of the “Montagne” Sainte Geneviève (Only 200 meters or 656 ft is not exactly a mountain in my book), we see the Rue Saint Jacques, which was the main thoroughfare of Lutetia in Roman times. It led up to the Forum, the head of Roman Government in Lutetia. Today, the Forum has long been forgotten, but two other important buildings from Paris’ early days remain:
– Thermes de Cluny:
The Roman baths built between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, are now a part of the Musée de Cluny. The museum is mainly a Medieval Art museum, but they also include the Thermes and artifacts from Lutèce (like the statue in the thumbnail) in their collection. Since they’re under rennovation until 2022, you’ll have to wait to admire the still intact 14m high ceilings of the Frigidarium, or Cold Baths. Still, other parts of the building are visible from outside, including the original Roman brickwork from nearly two millenia ago.
-Arènes de Lutèce:
This was the amphitheatre built at the outskirts of Lutetia. It could hold 17,000 spectators for plays, gladiator fights, or even a mock naval battle with miniature ships. Today, in the arena you’ll see Parisians playing boules instead of gladiators , and in the holding pens you’ll see chairs instead of lions. Still, this public park is worth a visit on any trip to Paris.
Finally, what happened to the name Lutetia? The original full name was Lutetia Parisorium, named after the Parisii tribe. Anyway, we’ll get into all this and more in this latest episode of Kokusai Analysis!
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Walking tour based on this video: https://www.kokusaianalysis.com/finding-lutetia-in-paris
The thumbnail is a statue from the Cluny Museum, and the coins are Parisii coins (gold) or Roman coins from Lutetia. (Photo credits below)
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Origins of Paris
00:57 Rue Saint Jacques
01:26 Thermes de Cluny
02:07 Arènes de Lutèce
02:57 Etymology
03:21 Roman influence on France
04:02 The Cities of Rome and Paris: an exclusive friendship
04:19 Concluding thoughts
04:50 Credits
Music (in order of appearance):
Parisian Café by Aaron Kenny | YouTube Audio Library
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVAggfwI4hnkA2WO6-xC06Q/
Planning by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Psalm Trees, Guillaume Muschalle – She Won’t Say https://chll.to/561dec92
Hymn To The Gods by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Pastorale by Joel Cummins | YouTube Audio Library
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKgGBUFCIZjmC-Lqy8kmJ5w
can i love you? by Barradeen | https://soundcloud.com/barradeen
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US
you’re thinking about that person again by Barradeen | https://soundcloud.com/barradeen
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_US
Sound effects via freesound.org
Thumbnail image: Mkooiman (statue, which is at the Thermes de Cluny) and Classical Numismatic Group (Coin of Julian made by Roman soldiers in Lutetia)
Disclaimer: We try our best to use public domain, creative commons sources and to attribute correctly. If you believe we have used your footage without proper permission or attribution, contact us via email.
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