Paris folder A/parisA006
Previous | Home | NextSeveral sites are identified: (1) The Bastille, a fortress dating from 1383 which was used as a prison, and which was the symbolic "cause" taken up by the storming sans-culottes in 14 July 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was demolished by the end of that year. (2) Notre-Dame Cathedral, completed in 1345, is a famous visitor's site today. (3) The Louvre, originally built as a fortress in the 12th century and which at this time had not yet developed to the familiar structure. (4) The Sorbonne, founded in 1257, one of the earliest medieval colleges. (5) Le Tour de Nesle (Nesle's Tower), a guard tower of the old city wall of Paris built in the 13th century across the river from the Castle of the Louvre. Nesle's Tower was probably used as a defensive fort, along with its mirror tower across the river (look closely), against enemy vessels progressing upstream. It was taken down in 1665 to make way for the Mazarin Collège (where Lavoisier was trained). There were only three main bridges at this time across the Seine River. All bridges were built of wood until Pont Neuf (the nearest bridge to the viewer) was constructed of stone 1578-1607.
