Paris started on little Island called Parisii and later Lutetia

This is one of the walls still around Île de la Cité, right behind Notre Dame. It is one of two remaining natural islands in the center of Paris, the other being Île Saint-Louis from where I took this photo.

In 52 BC, at the time of Vercingetorix’s struggle with Julius Caesar, the island may have been a fortified crossing point held by the Parisii, a small Gallic tribe. At that time, the island was a low-lying area subject to flooding that offered a convenient place to cross the Seine and a refuge in times of invasion. After the conquest of the Celts, the Roman Labienus developed a settlement on the slopes above the Left Bank, where Roman Lutetia was established. The Emperor Julian, in Gaul from 355 to 361, described Lutetia as “a small island lying in the river; a wall entirely surrounds it, and wooden bridges lead to it on both sides. [read more…]

On the island of Cité you will find the heart of history in Paris, including Notre Dame (completed 1260), Sainte-Chapelle (completed 1248), Hôtel-Dieu de Paris (the oldest hospital in Paris from 651 AD) and many more.

I love that as you walk around Paris, you see not only beautiful, historical buildings, you see things like this wall, which reminds you of the past in different ways.