Home VHS: Cities of the World - Paris

Paris, France, is truly one of the wonders of the world.

Paris gets its name from a Celtic tribe, the Parisii, who lived near the Seine.

After being conquered by the Romans in 52 BC, Paris became a prosperous city...

Montmartre, a hill in the city, was named in honor of the Christian martyr...

...St. Denis, beheaded by the Romans for refusing to renounce his faith.

...Paris played a leading role in the Age of Enlightment, and...

...the French Revolution began in 1789, with the storming of the Bastille.

The Revolution and the subsequent rise of Napoleon Bonaparte...

...reshaped Europe and the world forever...

Paris's iconic Eiffel Tower was built for the World's Fair in 1888...

The city was occupied by the Germans after the fall of France in 1940...

...and was liberated by the US and French Armies in 1944.

Along with the Eiffel Tower, Paris holds many world famous buildings...

...such as the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre which houses the Mona Lisa...

...the Arc de Triomphe, and the Champs-Élysée...

With a population of over two million, Paris remains a centre of world politics and culture...