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Paris
history begins on the Île de la Cité in central Paris, which
was inhabited by the Parisii who called their stronghold Lutetia (Lutece).
The Romans then built up more on the Left Bank, particularly in the area
where the Panthéon now stands, which is on a hill known as the Montagne
Ste-Genevieve. Sainte Genevieves illustrious career involved saving the
city from Attila by dint of her perfect holiness and then going on to convert
Clovis, who became the first king of France. At this point, France only
consisted of Paris and the area that makes up the Île de France until
successive kings and monarchs drew in more of their rivals lands, centralizing
the kingdoms power in Paris. The university was formally established in
1215, placing Paris at the centre of European intellectual activity.However,
plagues and wars in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries left Paris bereft
of inhabitants and in quite a pickle. Sanitation continued to be terrible
after these calamities and the locals were discontent, chasing King Louis
XIV out of Paris in the mid seventeenth century. In 1670 he moved into the
Palace of Versailles, a discreet out-of-town pad just a few leagues to the
south east of Paris. |
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