The extraordinary intersection of five ordinary and three express métro lines at the Châtelet-Les Halles subway station echoes the junction of the medieval trade routes to England, Flanders, the German territories, Spain and Italy – plus the river traffic that linked central France to the Atlantic.
Such crossroads explain why Paris was poised to greatly expand with the 16th-century New World trade, changing from a modest administrative center to the Continent's most populous city.
• City Hall and execution site
The huge open space that separates the edifice from surrounding streets dramatized public executions. Their function and executioners' particular status surprise us...
The Place was further widened in the 19th century, for an equally dramatic reason...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
• Twin powers, sacred and profane, remain on the same sites
Notre-Dame was built over a fifth-century church, which in turn replaced a Roman shrine. Secular authority has nestled under its wing since pagan times...
|
|
|
|
- A double visit – the Sainte-Chapelle and the Tribunal
|
|
|
|
A visit to Notre-Dame ties in. |
|
|
Credits: photos / Claude Abron; Hôtel de Ville engraving / Archives of historian Marc Gaillard (can be viewed at the Hôtel de Ville métro stop)
- Unexpected Paris guided tours