The city's top tourist attraction was Notre Dame Cathedral which welcomed estimated 12,000,000 visitors 2017 Second was Basilique du Sacré-Cœur Montmartre with estimated 11 million visitors This was followed Louvre Museum (8.02 million visitors) Eiffel Tower (6.2 million) Centre Pompidou (3.3 million visitors) Musée d'Orsay (3.2 million) City of Science Industry (2.4 million visitors) Chapel of Our Lady of Miraculous Medal (2 million visitors) Museum of Natural History (1.7 million visitors) Arc de Triomphe (1.3 million visitors)The centre of Paris contains most visited monuments city including Notre Dame Cathedral Louvre well Sainte-Chapelle Les Invalides where tomb of Napoleon located Eiffel Tower located Left Bank south-west of centre Panthéon Catacombs of Paris also located Left Bank of Seine banks of Seine from Pont de Sully Pont d'Iéna have been listed UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991The Axe historique pictured here from Concorde Grande Arche of La Défense; Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon (Fine Arts Museum) main museum of city one of largest art galleries France Housed Palais Saint Pierre former 17th-century convent displays major collection of paintings artists (including Tintoretto Paolo Veronese Nicolas Poussin Rubens Rembrandt Zurbaran Canaletto Delacroix Monet Gauguin Van Gogh Cézanne Matisse Picasso Francis Bacon...) collections of sculptures drawings printings decorative arts Roman Greek antiquities second largest collection of Egyptian antiquities France after that of Louvre medal cabinet of 50.000 medals coinsThe Gallo-Roman Museum displaying many valuable objects artworks found site of Roman Lyon (Lugdunum) such Circus Games Mosaic Coligny calendar Taurobolic Altar. Marseille second-largest city of France main city of historical province of Provence today capital of department of Bouches-du-Rhône region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur located France's south coast covering area of 241 km2 (93 sq mi) had population of 852,516 2012 Its metropolitan area which covers 3,173 km2 (1,225 sq mi) third-largest France after Paris Lyon with population of 1,831,500 of 2010Known ancient Greeks Romans Massalia (Greek Μασσαλία Massalía), Marseille was important European trading centre remains main commercial port of French Republic Marseille now France's largest city Mediterranean coast largest port commerce freight cruise ships city was European Capital of Culture 2013 European Capital of Sport 2017 hosted matches 1998 World Cup Euro 2016 home Aix-Marseille UniversityGeography, Place Bellecour one of largest town squares Europe, The Château de Chenonceau nowadays part of UNESCO World Heritage Site was built early 16th centuryThe French Renaissance saw spectacular cultural development first standardisation of French language which would become official language of France language of Europe's aristocracy also saw long set of wars known Italian Wars between France Spain Holy Roman Empire Refusing accept Spanish-Portuguese claims of supremacy New World King Francis I ordered his privateers sail against his Spanish rival King Charles V who ruled Holy Roman Emperor from 1519 until 1556 Emperor's realm extended from Spain parts of what now Italy Austria Germany Belgium Netherlands French explorers such Jacques Cartier or Samuel de Champlain claimed lands Americas France paving way expansion of First French colonial empire rise of Protestantism Europe led France civil war known French Wars of Religion where most notorious incident thousands of Huguenots were murdered St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572Wars of Religion were ended Henry IV's Edict of Nantes which granted some freedom of religion HuguenotsUnder Louis XIII energetic Cardinal Richelieu promoted centralisation of state reinforced royal power disarming domestic power holders 1620s He systematically destroyed castles of defiant lords denounced use of private violence (dueling carrying weapons maintaining private army) end of 1620s Richelieu established the royal monopoly of force doctrine France Spain fought 24-year war (the Franco-Spanish War) until signing of Treaty of Pyrenees 1659 war cost France 300,000 casualties During Louis XIV's minority regency of Queen Anne Cardinal Mazarin period of trouble known Fronde occurred France This rebellion was driven great feudal lords sovereign courts reaction rise of royal absolute power FranceLouis XIV of France standing plate armor blue sash facing left holding baton. Color map showing Regional natural parks of France Main article Arrondissements of Lyon.
Chapelle de la Trinité (1622) first Baroque chapel built Lyon part of former École de la Trinité now Collège-lycée Ampère. Le Panier quarter with Hotel de Ville church of Notre-Dame des Accoules Tour métallique de Fourvière (1894) 3rd arrondissement Guillotière (north) Préfecture Part-Dieu Villette Dauphiné/Sans Souci Montchat Grange Blanche (north) Monplaisir (north). Muslim (200,000) With Clovis's conversion Catholicism 498 Frankish monarchy elective secular until then became hereditary of divine rightThe Franks embraced Christian Gallo-Roman culture ancient Gaul was eventually renamed Francia (Land of Franks) Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages except northern Gaul where Roman settlements were less dense where Germanic languages emerged Clovis made Paris his capital established Merovingian dynasty but his kingdom would not survive his death Franks treated land purely private possession divided among their heirs so four kingdoms emerged from Clovis's Paris Orléans Soissons Rheims last Merovingian kings lost power their mayors of palace (head of household) One mayor of palace Charles Martel defeated Islamic invasion of Gaul Battle of Tours (732) earned respect power within Frankish kingdoms His son Pepin Short seized crown of Francia from weakened Merovingians founded Carolingian dynasty Pepin's son Charlemagne reunited Frankish kingdoms built vast empire across Western Central EuropeProclaimed Holy Roman Emperor Pope Leo III thus establishing earnest French Government's longtime historical association with Catholic Church, Charlemagne tried revive Western Roman Empire its cultural grandeur Charlemagne's son Louis I (Emperor 814–840) kept empire united however this Carolingian Empire would not survive his death 843 under Treaty of Verdun empire was divided between Louis' three sons with East Francia going Louis German Middle Francia Lothair I West Francia Charles Bald West Francia approximated area occupied by was precursor modern FranceDuring 9th 10th centuries continually threatened Viking invasions France became very decentralised state nobility's titles lands became hereditary authority of king became more religious than secular thus was less effective constantly challenged powerful noblemen Thus was established feudalism France Over time some of king's vassals would grow so powerful that they often posed threat king example after Battle of Hastings 1066 William Conqueror added King of England his titles becoming both vassal (as Duke of Normandy) equal of (as king of England) king of France creating recurring tensionsLate Middle Ages (10th century–15th century), National Gendarmerie French census data does not contain information about religious affiliation According 2011 survey IFOP French public opinion research organisation 61 percent of residents of Paris Region (Île-de-France) identified themselves Roman Catholic though just 15 percent said they were practising Catholics while 46 percent were non-practicing same survey 7 percent of residents identified themselves Muslims 4 percent Protestants 2 percent Jewish 25 percent without religionAccording INSEE French government statistical office between 4 5 million French residents were born or had least one parent born predominantly Muslim country particularly Algeria Morocco Tunisia IFOP survey 2008 reported that of immigrants from these predominantly Muslim countries 25 percent went mosque regularly 41 percent practised religion 34 percent were believers but did not practice religion2012 2013 was estimated that there were almost 500,000 Muslims City of Paris 1.5 million Muslims Île-de-France region 4 5 million Muslims FranceThe Jewish population of Paris Region was estimated 2014 be 282,000 largest concentration of Jews world outside of Israel United StatesEconomy.
Hollingsworth Associates Inc