Life in Paris in the Middle Ages. Historical monuments of France: the Middle Ages of Paris. Church of Sainte-Chapelle in medieval Paris

Medieval Paris left magnificent examples of Romanesque architecture (X-XII centuries), in which the foundations borrowed by the Franks in Roman architecture were revived, albeit in a somewhat revised form. The Romanesque style was characterized by heavy proportions, powerful walls, load-bearing semicircular vaults and arched ceilings openings.

One of the most notable Parisian architectural monuments of this period is the church Saint-Germain-des-Prés , founded in the middle of the 6th century by King Childebert I to store the tunic of St. Vincent of Saragossa and now located in a busy part of the Latin Quarter (since in the old days it was surrounded by meadows, this was reflected in the name: French pré - meadow).

This first Christian monastery soon became an abbey in the fields outside the city. It was managed by a certain Father Germain,

This is how the name Saint-Germain des Pres appeared.

A Christian preacher, the Parisian Bishop Germain, who after his death in 576 was classified as a Catholic saint, as well as the first kings of the Merovingian dynasty, were buried in this temple, but in the 9th century the church was burned by the Normans.

In the 11th century, a bell tower was built, which now stands out for its height among later buildings, and in the 12th century, the main volume of the church with the altar part (in the 17th century, the temple was rebuilt again, but the bell tower and the altar part retained their strict features of early medieval architecture )

Vincennes castle
Romanesque architecture, with all its elaboration of architectural forms and compositions, became only a harbinger of the formation of a new architectural style - Gothic, which originated in France. And since Paris was the capital, it inevitably turned into the main “construction laboratory” of new architectural thinking.

In the eastern Parisian suburb of Vincennes, a structure founded in the early Middle Ages and formed in the Gothic era has been preserved in a slightly modified form - Vincennes Castle, which at one time was a royal residence. By 1370, construction of the castle, which began in the 11th century, was completed.

On the territory surrounded by a powerful wall and moat, there is a residential tower - a donjon. The 52-meter-long donjon, almost square in plan, is flanked by four corner round turrets. It was possible to get into the castle only through a drawbridge thrown over a moat and a fortress gate in a wall with nine towers.

Along the top of the powerful walls there was a military passage, which was covered by hinged loopholes (machiculi). Here, somewhat away from the center of Paris, a closed court world was created, which even had its own small chapel. In its modern form, the entire complex, converted into a historical museum, is a characteristic monument of medieval architecture of the 14th century

Gothic architecture was brought to life by the rapid growth of cities and the need to have more spacious temples - in fact, the main public buildings of the medieval era. The accumulation of construction experience and technical knowledge led to a qualitative leap in the construction of spans, vaults and supports.

A pointed arch began to be used, and vaulted coverings began to be built on a frame base of stone ribs (ribs), made from especially durable stone. Now the external walls, which had long served as supports, had lost their constructive meaning, and the vaults were supported by a system of open semi-arches (flying buttresses) and external supports (buttresses). This allowed the entire surface between the buttresses to be made of glass in a stone frame, laying the foundation for the famous medieval stained glass windows made of multi-colored glass on lead spacers

A brilliant example of Gothic architecture is Notre Dame Cathedral (Notre Dame de Paris), rising in the eastern part of the island of Cité. Around 550, on the site of the ancient Temple of Jupiter, at the behest of the Frankish king Childebert I, the Basilica of Saint-Etienne was built, adjacent to which was the baptistery dedicated to John the Baptist and the Church of Our Lady (here was also the residence of Bishop Herman of Paris).

In the middle of the 12th century, it was decided to rebuild them and actually build a new, more spacious temple. Construction, which began on the initiative of the Parisian bishop Maurice de Sully in 1163, took a long time and was completed only in 1343 (it was then that the chapels between the buttresses and the crown of chapels around the choir were created).

The cathedral, grandiose for those times, capable of accommodating about 10 thousand people at a time (length - 130 m, width - 108 m, tower height - 69 m, vault height - 39 m), became a kind of model for all medieval church building in France. Around the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris there was the monastery of Our Lady, cathedral schools and houses of canons

The entire process of Gothic development was reflected in the architecture of the cathedral. The horizontal divisions and heavy lower tier of the western façade are echoes of the Romanesque style, while the system of wide flying buttresses, the strongly dissected and pointed through gallery at the foot of the towers and the round roses are a vivid embodiment of Gothic architecture.

Above the portals stretches a gallery of stone statues of kings from the Old Testament (previously there were statues of kings in the niches), figures of gargoyles are placed on the ledges of the cornices, and the choir fence with bas-reliefs and the statue of the Mother of God on the northern portal are real examples of the art of medieval sculptors (the cathedral sculptures were once painted and even partly gilded). Among the polychrome stained glass windows, the large roses on the axis of the western facade and on the ends of the transverse nave (transept) are especially noteworthy. In the 18th century, most of the colored stained glass windows were replaced by white glazing; stained glass windows remained only in roses (and only stained glass in the northern rose dates back to the 13th century)

Conciergerie
The western part of the Ile de la Cité is occupied by the huge complex of the Palace of Justice. Its northern façade, facing the right tributary of the Seine, gives a vivid impression of the austere royal castle with a prison and a treasury where the treasury was kept.

Three of the surviving towers date back to the 13th century, and the corner tower was built a century later (it featured a bell that announced the birth of the royal heir throughout Paris, and the city's first tower clock).

After King Charles V moved to the more spacious Louvre in the 14th century, the parliament, the Chamber of Auditors and other government bodies remained in the old residence of the monarch.

In 1417, the Chancellor of France was appointed to the position of concierge, that is, the gatekeeper of the royal residence, which is why the castle received the name Conciergerie. In the 19th century, the building was significantly expanded, and at the same time the façade facing Dauphine Square was designed.

Chapel Sainte-Chapelle

The most outstanding object in the Conciergerie Palace is the Sainte-Chapelle - the Holy or Royal Chapel, located in the south-eastern courtyard of the complex (part of the facade of the chapel overlooks the Palace Boulevard, which crosses the Cité between the Pont de Change and the Pont Saint-Michel).

It was built in 1246-1248 by order of the pious King Louis IX the Saint to store numerous sacred relics, and above all the highly revered Crown of Thorns, acquired by the monarch for a huge sum at that time from Venetian moneylenders. The name of the architect is not known for certain; the construction of the chapel is usually attributed to Pierre de Montreuil.

The elongated high volume of the Sainte-Chapelle contains two halls located one above the other. In the lower hall, two rows of columns support bundles of ribs that carry the vaults. The upper hall, which is actually the Royal Chapel, has a 10-meter span and is free from internal supports (one gets the impression that the vaults raised to a height of seven meters are floating in the air).

The hall is surrounded by colored stained glass windows, between which there are thin stone pillars, branching under the arches into several ribs. The rose at the end above the entrance, with its complex interweaving of the stone base, symbolizes the flaming Gothic style of the 15th century (the bell tower was also built at the same time).

The blue-painted pillars and vaults of the chapel are decorated with repeating gilded inserts in the form of a stylized lily flower in the upper hall and a silhouette of a castle in the lower hall (a golden lily on a blue background symbolizes the royal coat of arms of France). In the mid-19th century, the Sainte-Chapelle building underwent restoration, during which Viollet-le-Duc recreated the spire and a significant part of the stained glass windows, while managing to preserve the specificity of the Gothic style of its heyday

Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois

Opposite the eastern facade of the Louvre is the Gothic temple of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, founded in the 12th century (since then only the tall Romanesque bell tower has survived).

The 13th-century choir is early Gothic, the main body of the 15th-century church is Flamboyant Gothic, and the side portal is Renaissance. Like most medieval buildings in Paris, this temple was later reconstructed, but the unique rib vaults, lace rose, valuable stained glass windows, and numerous sculptural completions of cornices, gutters and turrets were preserved.

Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois was the parish church of the royal court, located in the nearby Louvre castle, so many artists, sculptors, architects and scientists who worked and lived at the court are buried there. The bell on the tower of this church announced the beginning of the massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Night (August 24, 1572)

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvres

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

Among other buildings that appeared in Paris during the Middle Ages, today there are the churches of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvres, Saint-Etienne-du-Mont, Saint-Severin, Saint-Médard and Saints-Archangels, the tower of Clovis (or Clovis) and other buildings preserved from the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève and now belonging to the Lycée Henry IV, the Bernardine College, now occupied by the French Catholic Academy, and the Hotel de Cluny (V arrondissement), the churches of Saint-Gervais, Saint-Merri and Billette, the archaeological crypt of the porch of the Cathedral of Notre Dame and Hotel de Sens (IV arrondissement), churches of Saint-Martin-des-Champs and Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs, Hotel de Soubise,

The Lycée Henry IV, one of the most prestigious educational institutions in France, is located on the site of the former Abbey of Sainte-Genevieve, which was founded by Clovis in honor of Saints Peter and Paul after the Battle of Vouillet at the request of his wife Queen Clotilde. On the Days of Cultural Heritage, the lyceum opened its doors to everyone.

Hotel de Clisson, a fragment of a fortress tower, formerly part of the Templar fortress Temple, and the house of Nicolas Flamel (III arrondissement), the refectory of the Cordeliers monastery, now occupied by the medical school of the University of Paris Descartes (VI arrondissement), the Church of Saint-Leu-Saint-Gilles (I district), the Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre (XVIII arrondissement), the tower of Jean the Fearless, formerly part of the palace of the Dukes of Burgundy (II arrondissement)


Church of Saint-Gervais,

Hotel de Cluny

Church of Saint-Martin-des-Champs

Hotel Soubise

Tower of Jean the Fearless

Two dozen surviving fragments of the fortress wall from the era of Philip II Augustus were classified as historical monuments in 1889. Now they are located on the streets of Jour, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louvre and Saint-Honoré (1st arrondissement), on the streets of Etienne Marcel and Tiketon (2nd arrondissement), on the rue Temple (III arrondissement), on the streets of Ave Maria, Charlemagne, Franc -Bourgeois, Jardin-Saint-Paul and Rosier (IV arrondissement), on the streets d'Arras, Cardinal Lemoine, Fosse-Saint-Bernard, Clovie, Descartes and Thouin (V arrondissement), in the courtyards of Commerce-Saint-André and Rohan, on the Quai de Conti, rue Dauphine, Mazarin, Nelle and Guénégo, in the Nevers cul-de-sac (VI arrondissement)

Place de la Bastille

Fragments of the walls, towers, underground chambers and moats of the famous Bastille, destroyed in 1791, remain around the modern Place de la Bastille: on the boulevards Bourdon and Henry IV, rue Saint-Antoine, the Bastille metro station and in the port of Arsenal on the Canal Saint-Martin

Former monastery of the Cordeliers, XIV century

Church of Saint-Merri, XIV-XVII centuries

Church of Saint-Nicolas-des-Champs,

XII-XVII century Church of Saint-Severin,

XIII-XV centuries Hotel de Clisson

XIV century Hotel de Sens

XV-XVI century Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, XII century

The first Parisian schools, which were purely clerical in nature, arose in the 12th century near the walls of Notre-Dame de Paris. Soon, wanting to leave the tutelage of the bishop, some of the teachers and their students moved to the left bank under the auspices of the more liberal abbeys of Sainte-Genevieve and Saint-Victor, where they founded a university

Abbey of Saint-Victor in a painting from 1655

The first royal privilege, which legitimized his rights and freedoms (and also removed schools from the jurisdiction of the royal provost), the union of masters and students of the Parisian school received in the charter of 1200, the union of schoolchildren appeared in the episcopal act of 1207, and the union of teachers - in the papal act of 1208 (the University of Paris officially received its name only in 1217, faculties were first mentioned in 1219).

Baroque facade of the Sorbonne (architect Jacques Lemercier, 1642)

The theologian Robert de Sorbon, confessor of King Louis IX, founded a college in 1253 on Coupe-Gel Street, from which the entire university received its second name. Later, a printing house was organized at the Sorbonne, where the first book in Paris was published in 1469

Collège de France

The Latin Quarter developed actively throughout the 13th century, displacing the old cathedral schools located on the Cité and near the Petit Bridge. Colleges or colleges at the initial stage were small and rather unprepossessing buildings, where about 10 thousand young men lived and studied in a noisy atmosphere of fun, games, drunkenness and fights (according to other sources, in 75 colleges, which were crowded between Place Maubert and the Hill of Sainte -Genevieve, financed by wealthy aristocrats and religious orders, educated about 40 thousand people)

The Latin Quarter is one of the most famous areas of Paris in the world. It extends over the 5th and 6th arrondissements, centered around the Sorbonne and Mount Sainte-Geneviève. It crosses the "cardo de Paris", the north-south axis corresponding to the current Rue Saint-Jacques and Boulevard Saint-Michel

This area is still popular among students and professors due to the presence of many scientific institutions there

Lycée Louis the Great, located in the center of the Latin Quarter on the site of the medieval University of Paris

The area also has many colleges and lyceums, often prestigious and historical: Louis-le-Grand, Fenelon, Henry IV, Saint-Louis, Notre-Dame de Sion, Stanislaus, Ecole, Alsatian, Montaigne, Lycée Lavoisier. Consequently, many bookstores specializing in literature, science, history, medicine, politics, philosophy, law are found in the area, even if they tend to disappear

Hospitals of the Hotel-Dieu in Paris, France. The Hotel-Dieu de Paris "Parisian Hospital of God" is the oldest hospital in Paris,

Marais Quarter

The Marais is one of the oldest quarters of Paris, which is considered the most extraordinary and unique place in the city. Why, you ask me? It’s simple, the “hand of Baron Haussmann,” the author of the reconstruction of Paris at the end of the 19th century, did not reach him. Therefore, the features of a typical medieval city have been preserved here with a labyrinth of narrow streets, without sidewalks, encased in the walls of ancient mansions of the 17th-18th centuries.

Mare, translated, means a swamp that once existed in this very place, drained at the behest of the Master of the Templar Order, already in the 13th century. It was with his light hand that the history of this quarter began, which became a shelter for the monks of this mysterious Order. Subsequently, under Henry IV, the Place Royale appeared here (now the Place des Vosges - the oldest square in Paris) which became the heart of this quarter. And this is not the only attraction of the Mare.

Here is one of the most interesting museums in France - the Carnavalet, which contains unique exhibits that tell the history of life in Paris over many centuries. And I will tell you about those people (Marquise de Brenvilliers, Princess Rogan, Madame de Sevigne, Duke of Orleans) who once owned these mansions and created the history of this beautiful country. ... And believe me, there is something to gossip about.

On Rue des Franc-Bourgeois there is a wonderful mansion with a turret. This is the house of Jean Herouet (treasurer of Louis XII), built around 1510.

The Hotel de Angoulême-Lamoignon first belonged to the illegitimate daughter of Henry II, the Duchess of Angoulême, and then passed to Lamoignon, a representative of a famous French family. Nowadays there is a historical library here.

There is the Carnavalet Museum (actually it is located in two mansions - the Hotel Carnavalet and the Hotel le Pelletier de Saint Fargeau). The Hotel Carnavalet is famous for the fact that in 1677 it was rented by Marie de Rabutin (aka Marquise de Sevigne). She became famous for the letters she wrote to her relatives and friends. “Letters of Madame de Sevigne” was published 30 years after her death and created a real sensation in Paris

Place des Vosges, Arcades du Côté Est - Paris

The oldest house in Paris is the house of Nicolas Flamel, which dates back to 1407. Located at 51 rue de Montmorency

On François Miron Street (rue François-Miron) there are two houses - 11 and 13, which date back to the 15th century

On rue des Barres there is house number 12, which belonged to Maubuisson Abbey and was reconstructed in 1540

And finally, house No. 3, which was built in 1644, has been preserved on rue Volta

Houses 44-46 Rue François Miron. They served the Cistercian abbey (XIII century). Now on the ground floor there is a wonderful store on the history of Paris and an organization that deals with historical monuments of Paris

If you enter the store, on the right there are steps to the basement, where the Gothic vaults of a 13th-century Cistercian abbey have been preserved.

11-13 rue du Louvre

rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul

remains of old walls

By the way, a small piece of ancient Paris can be seen at the beginning of the exhibition in the Louvre (at the underground level) - a piece of the first Louvre is on display. But somehow it wasn’t inserted in the best way (maybe all that’s left), just a piece of a tub-tower

Sources
Defourno M. Everyday life during the times of Joan of Arc. - Moscow: Eurasia, 2003. - 320 p.
Dubnov S. M. A Brief History of the Jews. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2003. - 576 p.
Combo I. History of Paris. - Moscow: The whole world, 2002. - 176 p.
Kosminsky E. A. History of the Middle Ages. - Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1952. - 748 p.
Lusher A. French society during the times of Philip-Augustus. - Moscow: Eurasia, 1999. - 414 p.
Pilyavsky V.I. and Leiboshits N.Ya. Paris. - Leningrad: Publishing House of Construction Literature, 1968. - 112 p.
Ru S. Everyday life of Paris in the Middle Ages. - Moscow: Young Guard, 2008. - 252 p.

The Middle Ages in France were the heyday of religion, Romanesque and Gothic art, stained glass, and all kinds of crafts. Despite numerous reconstructions, Paris still preserves remarkable evidence of bygone days.

Program

• We begin the tour with the most famous cathedral in France - Notre Dame, the embodiment of classical Gothic architecture. The history of the birth and development of the Gothic style in France and Europe. Secrets and legends of the cathedral.
• The history of the Ile de la Cité, where Paris was born. Royal Castle of the Conciergerie with the first capital clock of the 14th century and the Holy Chapel, decorated with stained glass from the 13th century and built by Saint Louis for the relics of Christ.
• The Right Bank is the most densely populated part of Paris during the Middle Ages. Wooden half-timbered houses from the 15th century; remains of monastery warehouses; Wall of Philip Augustus (late 12th century); gallery of the monastery of Billet (the only one preserved in Paris); late Gothic tower of the butchers of Saint-Jacques; Chatelet Square; the churches of Saint-Merri, Saint-Gervais and Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois; the tower of Jean the Fearless; the oldest house in Paris.
• The left bank is the university quarter of the Medieval Sorbonne. Saint-Germain-des-Prés is the oldest church in Paris; Latin Quarter; the churches of Saint-Severin and Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre (the parish of students and teachers of the Sorbonne); Cluny mansion (Museum of the Middle Ages); Bernardine College (the most striking example of monastic architecture of the 13th century); the oldest sign in Paris.

I always have a professional camera with me, and I will gladly, completely free of charge, take memorable photographs for you at your request.

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• This is a private tour in Russian, the guide will conduct it for you and your company.
• On the site you pay 20% of the cost, and the rest of the money goes to the guide on the spot. You can

While working for a French company, I received the task of writing texts for walking tours of Paris for our compatriots - I talked about this in some detail in the article. At that time, the musical “Notre Dame” was in full swing in Moscow, and I had the idea to propose “Medieval Paris - the city of Esmeralda.” In addition, the Middle Ages have always fascinated me, and at ship carnivals I have often portrayed the ladies of that time.

And my colleague and friend played Esmeralda.

There was even a French grandfather who very naturally played the role of a goat...
So, I went to the scene of events - to the Place de Greve with its Town Hall, to the Saint-Jacques Tower.

She collected material and processed it on the terraces of Parisian cafes.

But the main thing was just wandering around the medieval quarters.

I visited the Church of Saint-Eustache.

Alas, on the site of the Womb of Paris there is now a huge shopping center and a children's playground - fortunately, both are underground.



Nearby stands the ultra-modern Pompidou Centre,

from which, however, a very medieval view opens up.

When the Court of Miracles was in this area, where Esmeralda lived. And even if much has been preserved here, all the same, in the words of Alexei Tolstoy, “The face of Quasimodo looked at me from every bell tower...”


I had, of course, to reread the once beloved novel by Victor Hugo, who lived on the Place des Vosges:


This square is located in the ancient Marais quarter, where there are medieval mansions.

For example, the Hotel de Sens.

Walking, I felt in every cell what Hugo said:

“In those days it (Paris) was not only a beautiful city, but also a monolithic city, a work of art and history of the Middle Ages, a stone chronicle. It was a city whose architecture consisted of only two layers - a Romanesque layer and a Gothic layer, for the Roman layer has long disappeared, except for the Baths of Julian, where it still breaks through the thick crust of the Middle Ages.”

Not all medieval monuments were included in my excursion and, on the contrary, it did not include medieval ones at all, but those that came along the way: a Russian tourist may not be able to pass by, and he may not be able to return to them again.
But all this is still a saying - a fairy tale lies ahead.
Every tour of the city begins with its history. As you know, Paris arose from the Parisian settlement on the Ile de la Cité,

conquered in the 50s BC. by the Romans and called it Lutetia. During the period of Roman rule, the borders of Lutetia went beyond the island, and a city grew on the left bank of the Seine, spread out on the slopes of St. Genevieve.

Now this place is occupied by the Church of Saint-Etienne du Mont (St. Stephen on the Hill - pictured above) and - most importantly - the Pantheon, where Hugo is buried.


But let's return to history: in the 3rd century AD, fleeing the invasion of barbarians, the population left their homes and took refuge on the island of Cite. For seven centuries, Paris remained within the island. At the end of the 10th century, settlements began to appear on the right bank of the Seine.

Going on the third crusade, King Philip Augustus decided to fence Paris with a fortress wall, including empty lands on the right bank and the existing settlements of Sainte-Genevieve, Saint-Germain and others on the left bank within the city limits.
Construction of the wall began in 1190 on the right bank and in 1200 on the left, and was completed in 1213. In 1280, Paris had 8 neighborhoods and 310 streets: 36 on the Cité, 80 on the left bank and 194 on the right. In the 14th century, intensive development of the city took place on the right bank around churches, abbeys, and the Louvre castle. New lands were annexed to Paris, which necessitated the construction of a new fortress wall. The wall was started under Charles V (it is commonly called “the wall of Charles V”) in 1356 and completed under Charles VI in 1383.
The action of Notre-Dame de Paris takes place in 15th-century Paris. Hugo writes about the city of this time:

“In the 15th century, Paris was divided into three cities, sharply different from each other, independent, each with its own physiognomy, its own special purpose, its own morals, customs, privileges, its own history: Cité, University and City. Cite, located on an island, the oldest of them and the smallest in size, was the mother of two cities, reminiscent of ... a little old woman between two slender, beautiful daughters.”

The left bank of the Seine was called the university, the right bank was the city.

“...Each of these three large parts of Paris was a city in itself, but a city of too narrow a purpose to be completely complete and do without the other two. In the Cité, churches predominated, in the City - palaces, in the University - educational institutions."

“From a bird’s eye view, these three parts... represented, each individually, a dense network of intricately tangled streets.”

Paris was surrounded by a wall, which had six gates of Philip Augustus on the left bank and six gates of Charles V on the right.

“All these gates were strong and, which did not in the least interfere with their strength, beautiful. The waters flowing from the Seine into a wide and deep ditch, where a strong current formed during the winter floods, washed the foot of the city walls around the whole of Paris. At night the gates were closed, the river at both ends of the city was blocked with thick iron chains, and Paris rested peacefully.”

The first streets of Paris arose on the site of often winding roads and paths and, as a rule, corresponded to their direction. It was only under Louis XVI that streets began to be cut through neighborhoods. The origin of street names was associated either with the place or building near which the street passed (for example, Rue Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois), or with the surname of a noble person, or with the name of the profession whose representatives lived on this street, with the compact location of the workshops of artisans , or with a sign on the building.
Street names were assigned by local residents, but were not registered anywhere, which led to distortions of the original names and misunderstandings. The first Paris street directory appeared in 1489.

Street names were not written on the houses, and often people wandered for several hours around the place they needed and could not find it. Only in 1729 did they begin to insert a stone with its name into the walls of the first and last houses of each street. These first signs have been preserved on many houses to this day. In the 15th century, houses had from three to five floors. The first floor was built of stone, supported by a structure of wooden beams, the spaces between which were filled with rubble covered with Parisian plaster. Houses could be built from other materials, but they were always covered with white plaster. Thus the city appeared white.
In relation to the street, the houses stood sideways, the roofs located close to each other with gables resembled saw teeth - the city looked very colorful, especially since the houses were very diverse. The floors of the houses hung over one another. There were no drainpipes - water poured from the roofs directly onto the street. About thirty similar houses have survived to this day in Paris.

Hugo describes 15th-century Paris “from a bird’s eye view,” or rather from the towers of Notre Dame:

“A breathless spectator who climbed to the very top of the cathedral would first of all be blinded by the spectacle of the roofs, chimneys, streets, bridges, squares, spiers, and bell towers spread out below. His gaze would simultaneously be presented with: a carved gable, a pointed roof, a turret hanging on the corner of a wall, a stone pyramid of the 11th century, a slate obelisk of the 15th century, a round smooth tower of a castle, a quadrangular patterned bell tower of a church - both large and small, massive and airy. . His gaze would wander for a long time, penetrating the various depths of this labyrinth, where everything was marked by originality, genius and beauty; everything was a product of art, starting with the smallest house with a painted and stucco facade, external wooden fixtures, with a low arched door, with upper floors hanging over it, and ending with the majestic Louvre, surrounded in those days by a colonnade of towers.”

The tour begins in that part of Paris that in the Middle Ages was called the City.

“The city, although more extensive than the University, did not represent such a unity.”

It seemed to consist of three parts: in one of them there were palaces, in the other there were houses.

“The third part of the panorama of the right bank was a long belt of abbeys, covering almost the entire city from east to west and forming, behind the fortress walls that enclosed Paris, a second internal fence of monasteries and chapels.”

(All quotes, if there is no author's surname, are taken from Hugo's novel. It must be said that Hugo often repeats himself in his descriptions, and, nevertheless, these descriptions help to vividly imagine the medieval city, recreating its special style and special atmosphere.)

“The cluster of dwellings, closely molded to each other, like cells in a beehive, was not without a peculiar beauty... Above the many buildings, whose tiled and slate roofs were outlined one against the other in bizarre links, stood the carved, folded, patterned bell towers of forty-four churches on the right bank ."

We will begin our walk on the right bank, on the embankment of the Seine at the Pont neuf metro station, which translates as New Bridge.

The bridge itself is visible behind me. In fact, it is the oldest surviving bridge in Paris. Its first stone was laid on the evening of May 31, 1578 by Henry III in the presence of the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici. It was Saturday and it was raining heavily. The king, dressed in black, wept with nature as he attended the funeral service that morning for two of his favorites killed in a duel at the end of April. The Parisians, who were present at the foundation and saw the grief of the king, proposed calling the new bridge the Bridge of Tears.
Construction of the bridge progressed slowly, hampered by numerous political events occurring at the time. It was completed only in 1605, and already Henry IV, accompanied by his retinue, solemnly rode through it on horseback.

Unlike other bridges of that time, the New Bridge was not built up with houses and had sidewalks for pedestrians. It became an event. For the first time, Parisians had the opportunity to admire it while crossing the Seine.

Paris. View of the New Bridge (Pont Neuf) The sidewalks were high, and pedestrians did not have to worry about safety. The bridge immediately became a place for walking. The only buildings that could be seen on it were shops located in niches. Traveling merchants, artists, magicians, chansonniers, flower girls, tooth cutters, as well as numerous swindlers and pickpockets gathered here. In Paris they said that on the Pont Neuf at any time you could meet a monk, a white horse and a lady of easy virtue. This “proverb” is confirmed by Fonvizin: in 1778, he writes from Paris to his sister that he specifically walks along the bridge in order to check if this is so, and every time he really meets the said characters.

At the beginning of the 17th century, near the bridge on Cité, the sculptors de Bologne and Frangeville erected a monument to Henry IV - the first equestrian statue in France installed on a city highway. The huge horse originally located on this site was cast in bronze by order of Ferdinand, Duke of Tuscany, who wanted to use it for his own equestrian monument. The project was not carried out due to the death of the Duke. After the death of Henry IV, another duke gave the horse to Marie de Medici. In 1613, a ship with a horse left Livorno for France, but sank off the coast of Sardinia. The horse was raised from the bottom and in 1614 installed on a marble pedestal where the monument is now located. For twenty-one years he stood without a rider and was simply called the “bronze horse.” In 1635, Louis XIII ordered a figure of his father to be mounted on a horse. In 1788, the head of the statue was decorated with flowers and white ribbons; in 1789 they were replaced with a national cockade.
In 1792, the monument was thrown off its pedestal and smashed, some of its fragments were melted, and the other part was thrown into the Seine. The current monument was built in 1818 by order of Louis XVIII. Here he perched on my head, as if the king and monument were me, and he was just a dove.

For him, the statues of Napoleon that were on the Vendome Column (the same “column with a cast iron doll”) were melted down,

on a column in Boulogne-sur-Mer and on a column that at one time stood on the Place Victoire. The foundry worker, who was an ardent Bonapartist, secretly placed a small figurine of Napoleon in Henry’s hand, and a whole bunch of papers with various texts, including songs glorifying the emperor, in the horse’s belly. These items are still inside the monument today.

The new bridge was restored in 1848, but the supporting structures remained from 1605. Thus, its age exceeds three and a half centuries.
Near the bridge is the largest Parisian department store, Samaritin. In 1605, Henry IV installed a hydraulic machine on the New Bridge near this place, providing water to the drinking fountains of the right bank. Next to the car was an image of a Samaritan woman offering water to Christ. The Samaritin hydraulic machine operated until 1813. Already in the Middle Ages, there were sixteen drinking fountains in Paris - all of them were located on the right bank. Residents of the left bank used wells or took water directly from the Seine. If during the time of the Romans the water in the Seine was amazingly clean, by the Middle Ages it had become heavily polluted. In the 14th century, a decree was even issued prohibiting sweeping during rain, so as not to further pollute the water in the river.
We will leave the embankment - not because we are afraid of dirty water, but because it is time for us to move on - to the church of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois.
Continuation .

In 987, Ed's descendant, Hugo Capet, was proclaimed king, and his heirs, the kings of the Capetian dynasty, began to be associated with Paris (however, the first rulers of this dynasty visited here infrequently).

At first, the capital of France developed rather slowly, so that by 1100 its population was only about three thousand people.

However, after just a hundred years, Paris became the largest city in Christian Europe (and remained so until the 18th century, when London overtook it), as well as its most important intellectual and cultural center.

By the 1320s, the capital's population was almost a quarter of a million. This Paris was obliged, first of all, to its favorable position on a navigable river and active trade, which, in turn, contributed to the increase in the class of merchants.

The economic growth of the city was also facilitated by successful farming on the vast surrounding lands. To the south of the capital, grain crops were grown and vineyards were cultivated, to the east, west and north between the city and Montmartre hill there were rich forests.

The prosperity of Paris was also facilitated by the development of the University of Paris. And all this happened under the protection of the still young, but already quite strong monarchy, which gradually took all the surrounding lands under its protection. Particularly trusted were the kings Louis VI, Louis VII and Philip Augustus, whose reign together lasted almost the entire 12th century.

Trade in Paris naturally developed in those areas of the city where goods from ships reached the shore. This is, first of all, Grevskaya Square on the Right Bank, where the Town Hall building is now located. There was once a swampy area here, but with the development of business activity, the soil was systematically drained.

Origins of education in Paris

The scientific and intellectual activity of the Left Bank also began in the Middle Ages, when the first schools and houses where students lived and studied appeared around the two large monasteries of Sainte-Genevieve and Saint-Germain-des-Prés. An outstanding European scientist of the time, Pierre Abelard, also known for being the lover of young Heloise, fell victim to forced castration due to the anger of her uncle.

At the beginning of the 12th century, Pierre Abelard taught his students in these schools, and in 1215 a papal decree allowed the establishment of higher education institution, which then turned into the famous Paris Sorbonne University(named after Robert de Sorbon, who founded a school for poor students in 1257).

By 1300, under the patronage of the clergy rather than the city authorities, three thousand students were already studying on the Left Bank. Since the Latin language was used here both in the schools themselves and outside their walls, this student area became deservedly called the “Latin Quarter”.

To protect his rapidly developing city, King Philip Augustus (1180-1223) built the Louvre fortress, the ancient walls of which can now be seen on the lower floors Louvre museum. The king also erected the famous long city wall, which once stretched north and south, bordering Marais quarter and Mount Saint Genevieve. Thus, it ran approximately along the line of the main modern Parisian arrondissements, from the 1st to the 6th (while the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Pres remained outside the city walls).

Contemporaries of Philip Augustus considered these structures a new wonder of the world (despite the fact that part of the wall on the Left Bank later collapsed), as well as a reliable guarantee of the city's safety and convincing evidence that the French monarchy sought to turn Paris into a truly great city.

King Philip Augustus, who in his youth was horribly impressed by the city's dirt, even began to pave the streets, but in the end most of them remained hopelessly dirty, rutted, filled with crowds of people and animals, all of which sometimes led to serious accidents. It is enough to mention the tragic death of the heir of Louis VI, who died in 1131, falling from his horse because of a pig running along the street.

Paris during the early Middle Ages

One of the most important mechanisms for the continuity of the culture of the Roman Empire was the church, which retained the same organization, governance, Latin language of communication, as well as connections with Rome. The founder of the kingdom of the Franks was Clovis, called Clovis in Russian historiography. Clovis is one of the first Merovingians, who is considered the founder of France. The dynasty was named after the mythical king Merovey, whose grandson Clovis was supposedly. Clovis was a wise ruler and a brave warrior. Christianity in France received an additional impetus for development after Clovis adopted this religion. In a sense, Clovis's reign ensured the stability and unity of France. It was he who declared Paris the capital.

The French have always viewed Clovis as the ancestor of a single French nation and French state, despite the fact that many more wars have passed since then, and a lot of blood has been shed in them, until France became what we know it now. Clovis died in 511 and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis. After his death, the kingdom of the Franks was divided between his sons into four parts - with capitals in Paris, Reims, Soissons and Orleans.

The descendants of Clovis waged internecine wars for a long time, which weakened the Merovingian state. The former power was restored during the reign of kings Dagobert and Childeric II at the beginning of the 7th century. Soon the kingdom of the Franks becomes the most powerful European power, in which an aristocracy emerges. The king could no longer ignore the power of the aristocracy - he generously appeased the nobility, distributing vast lands to them. This is how majordomos appear - “mayors of palaces” - previously ordinary courtiers, and now - the king’s main advisers. They were the reason for the decline of the Merovingian era.

After the death of Childeric II, power actually passed into the hands of the majordomos, although the descendants of Merovey were still on the throne. However, they managed the state poorly, spending their time in entertainment. For this they were nicknamed “lazy kings.” The last of the Merovingians was King Childeric III.

The majordomos gradually strengthened their power, and one day Pepin the Short ascended the throne of the Frankish kingdom, laying the foundation for a new royal dynasty - the Carolingians. This was in 751. Thus began a new era in the history of France - the era of Carolingian rule.

The son of Pepin the Short became not just the king of France, but also the emperor of the Western Roman Empire, for which he was called Charlemagne. The very name of the state - France - appears precisely during the reign of Charlemagne.

Charles deservedly bore the name of Charlemagne. From an early age he was accustomed to royal life: he was engaged in physical exercises, horse riding, hunting, and swimming. Learned monks told him biblical stories and taught him moral lessons using the example of the Gospel. Karl often went to church and attended liturgies. His father, Pepin the Short, taught the prince to politics and leadership of the country from childhood.

Karl was very inquisitive. The best scientists of that time were his teachers. In addition to his native language - the Germanic dialect spoken by the Franks, Charles also knew both classical Latin and folk Latin, from which the French language later took shape. He understood the importance of education for the development of the state, and therefore not only never stopped learning himself, but also did other things to ensure that knowledge was available to everyone. Thus, in 789, Charles ordered the opening of schools so that “children could learn to read.”

Charlemagne continued the unification of France. He created a real administrative system, dividing the country into regions and appointing his governors who ensured that the will of the king was carried out. Under Charlemagne, France became a real empire. In 800, Charles was proclaimed emperor.

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Louis I the Pious. The Frankish custom, when the kingdom was divided among all the sons, was forgotten, and from then on the eldest son became king. The struggle of Charlemagne's grandchildren for the imperial crown weakened the empire, which ultimately led to its collapse. The Viking tribes of the Normans took advantage of the weakening of royal power in France. On small boats with a flat bottom, they could successfully sail not only in the sea, but also in rivers. In 843 they climbed up the Seine and occupied Paris.

From 840 onwards, Paris suffered a series of Viking attacks. In 843 they occupied the city. Paris was plundered tirelessly. From 845 to 869, almost all the churches on the left bank were destroyed. Residents of the city moved to the island of Cité under the protection of the river and city walls, the reliability of which left much to be desired. In this regard, from the 880s on the Isle of Cité, by order of Otto, Count of Paris, new defensive structures were built.

Vikings attacked Paris in 887 and 889, but the re-fortified walls of the Île de la Cité prevented the invaders from either pillaging the city or going up the river.

The historian Abbo, a witness to the Viking siege of Paris in 885–886, wrote that the Viking hordes advanced “with seven hundred longships and many small ships,” and their formation was so dense, “sails, oak, elm and alder” stood so densely that the river was not visible for two leagues. The Parisians refused to pay the Vikings a ransom for their own safety, and desperately defended the city. During the most intense period of the siege, Otto brought reinforcements to the city. The king of the West Franks, Charles the Fat, was able to come to an agreement with the Vikings, and they retreated.

By the 10th century, under the Carolingian dynasty, Paris became larger. The right bank of the Seine has surpassed its island cradle both in size and population. But in general, the revival that the Carolingian dynasty brought with it bypassed Paris. All the cultural and religious achievements of this time - the rewriting and consecration of Latin manuscripts, the improvement of the musical alphabet, the structuring of laws and the development of art - were associated with another city - Aachen. The Carolingians did not consider Paris the center of life of the empire.

Paris, the modest residence of first the Merovingian and then Carolingian kings, became a true capital only in 987, when Hugh Capet founded a new dynasty and gave the city a new status. It was from this period that Paris became a leading European cultural center.

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