PARIS

also called Alexandros (Greek: Defender), in Greek legend, son of King Priam of Troy and his wife, Hecuba. A dream regarding his birth was interpreted as an evil portent, and he was consequently expelled from his family as an infant. Left for dead, he was either nursed by a bear or found by shepherds. He was raised as a shepherd, unknown to his parents. As a young man he entered a boxing contest at a Trojan festival, in which he defeated Priam's other sons. After his identity was revealed, he was received home again by Priam. The judgment of Paris was and continues to be a popular theme in art. According to legend, Paris was chosen by Zeus to determine which of three goddesses was the most beautiful. Rejecting bribes of kingly power from Hera and military might from Athena, he chose Aphrodite and accepted her bribe to help him win the most beautiful woman alive. His seduction of Helen (the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta) and refusal to return her was the cause of the Trojan War. During the war Paris seems to have had a secondary role: a good warrior but inferior to his brother Hector and to the Greek leaders whom he faced. Menelaus would have defeated Paris in single combat, but Aphrodite rescued him, and the war continued. Near the end of the war, Paris shot the arrow that, by Apollo's help, caused the death of the hero Achilles. Paris himself, soon after, received a fatal wound from an arrow shot by the archer Philoctetes. city and capital of France, located in the north-central part of France on both sides of the Seine River, 233 miles (375 km) upstream from the English Channel. Its ideal crossroads location has enabled Paris to thrive for more than 2,000 years as the country's leading centre of population, culture, and economic activity. The Seine follows a curved course through the city and forms two islands: the le de la Cit and le Saint-Louis. The city occupies a central position in the rich agricultural region known as the Paris Basin. The region has a temperate maritime climate with warm summers and fairly mild winters. The mean temperature is about 50 F (10 C); January averages about 38 F (3 C) and July about 65 F (18 C). Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed, though somewhat heavier in the summer and autumn; average annual precipitation is about 24 inches (619 mm). Paris is the leading industrial city of France. Manufacturing industries predominate in the northern suburbs, and among the most developed are the automobile and aeronautics industries, electronics industries, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and food industries. A second major type of industry is the manufacture of luxury articles, including precious metalware, leather crafts, china, and haute couture (fashion design). These occupations are mostly concentrated within the central arrondissements. The outlying arrondissements specialize in such trades as furniture making, shoemaking, precision-tool production, and the manufacture of optical instruments. Printing and publishing are found in the Quartier Latin (Latin Quarter) and the rue (street) Raumur at the centre of the city. The Greater Paris area also produces three-quarters of French motion pictures, and tourism is an important industry. Many banks and businesses have their headquarters in Paris, including the Banque de France, which has the French national gold reserve in vaults underneath its building. Near the bank is the Bourse (Stock Exchange). The city's central market, the Halles, was closed in 1969, and new markets were installed at Rungis, near Orly. The city of Paris had its beginnings on the le de la Cit, where the splendid 12th-century cathedral of Notre Dame is located. Connected by bridge to the le de la Cit is le Saint-Louis, where old houses and narrow streets date back to the 17th century. On the Right Bank of the Seine, east of le Saint-Louis, is the Place de la Bastille, where the July 14, 1789, capture of the Bastille prison helped launch the French Revolution. Between le Saint-Louis and the Place de la Rpublique is the Htel de Ville (City Hall). Stretching along the river, the palace of the Louvre, one of the world's most celebrated museums, houses an art collection that ranks among the largest and finest in existence. Other notable museums include the Orsay Museum of 19th-century art and civilization and the National Museum of Modern Art in Pompidou Centre. Northward of the Louvre lies the Place de l'Opra, the location of the Paris Opera House and National Academy of Music. In the Place de la Concorde, just northwest of the Louvre, stood the guillotine where, during the French Revolution, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were executed in 1793. From the Place de la Concorde, the tree-lined Champs-lyses leads up a gentle rise to the Arc de Triomphe, commissioned by Napoleon in 1806. Also on the Right Bank of the Seine is the district of Montmartre, dominated by the Sacred Heart Basilica (Basilique du Sacr Coeur). With its cafes and bistros, it is a centre of nightlife and a renowned haunt of poets and painters. On the Left Bank of the Seine are the Champ-de-Mars and the Eiffel Tower, a visual symbol of Paris. The oldest part of the Left Bank is the Latin Quarter, in which stands the Sorbonne (founded about 1257, now part of the University of Paris). Many other educational institutions are clustered near the Sorbonne. Nearby are the Cluny Museum, with a rich collection of medieval art, and the Panthon, where many of France's notables are buried. Transportation in Paris and its inner suburbs is organized by the RATP (Rgie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) through the double network of the Mtro (underground railway) and buses. The Rseau Express Rgional (RER), a network of express rail lines, runs to the outer suburbs. France's roads and railways have been designed to converge on the capital from all directions. Paris is the largest inland port in France and is served by an excellent system of waterways. The city has two major airports, the Orly and the Charles de Gaulle, serving national and international flights. Area city, 41 square miles (105 square km); metropolitan region, 805 square miles (2,118 square km). Pop. (1982) city, 2,165,892; metropolitan area, 10,210,059. city, seat of Bourbon county, north-central Kentucky, U.S., on the South Fork of Licking River, in the Bluegrass region. First settled about 1775, it was founded as Hopewell (1789) and was called Bourbontown before it was renamed Paris (1790) in appreciation of French aid during the Revolutionary War. Bourbon whiskey was first distilled there in 1790. Duncan Tavern Historic Shrine (1788), once the rendezvous of frontiersmen such as Daniel Boone, has been restored. A few miles east is Old Cane Ridge Meeting House (1791), where in 1804 Barton W. Stone started a movement called the New Lights, which merged in 1832 with the Campbellites to become the Disciples of Christ, or Christian Church. The basic farm economy (livestock, thoroughbred horses, seed processing) is supplemented by the manufacture of textiles and mining machinery. Inc. city, 1862. Pop. (1990) 8,730. city, seat (1844) of Lamar county, northeastern Texas, U.S., on a ridge between the Red and Sulphur rivers, 106 miles (171 km) northeast of Dallas. Laid out in 1845 and named for Paris, Fr., it developed after the arrival of the railroad in 1876. The city was replanned after a disastrous fire in 1916. A shipping point for cotton, grain, and livestock of the Blacklands Belt, it also has some light manufacturing. Paris Junior College was established in 1924. The Gambill Wildlife Refuge on Lake Gibbons and the Flying Tigers Air Museum are nearby. Inc. town, 1874; city, 1905. Pop. (1990) 24,699. Romeo's unwitting rival in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. Betrothed to Juliet by her father, Paris is wealthy, handsome, and honourableand would have been a worthy if unpoetic suitor had not Juliet loved and married Romeo. Paris is noble and honest to his tragic end. city and capital of France, located in the north-central part of the country. The city was founded more than 2,000 years ago on an island in the Seine River, some 233 miles (375 kilometres) upstream from the river's mouth on the English Channel. The modern city has spread from the island (the le de la Cit) and far beyond both banks of the Seine. The City of Paris itself covers an area of 41 square miles (105 square kilometres); the Greater Paris conurbation, formed of suburbs and other built-up areas, extends around it in all directions to cover approximately 890 square miles. Paris occupies a central position in the rich agricultural region known as the Paris Basin, and it constitutes one of eight dpartements of the le-de-France administrative region. It is by far the nation's most important centre of commerce and culture. Additional reading General description Paul Cohen-Portheim, The Spirit of Paris (1937; originally published in German, 1930); John Russell, Paris (1983); Harold P. Clunn, The Face of Paris (1933, reprinted 1958); B. Ehrlich, Paris on the Seine (1962); and Anthony Glyn, The Companion Guide to Paris (1985). Guide books include Ian Robertson (ed.), Paris and Environs, 6th ed. (1985); Paris, 6th ed. (1986), from the Michelin Green Guides series; Christian Millau (ed.), Le Guide de Paris (1985); and Ian Littlewood, Paris: A Literary Companion (1987), for literary landmarks. The monumental work of F. De Rochegude and Maurice Dumolin, Guide pratique travers le vieux Paris, new rev. ed. (1923), has been adapted by Jean-Paul Clbert, Les Rues de Paris: promenades du marquis de Rochegude travers tous les arrondissements de Paris parcourus de nouveau, 2 vol. (1958, reissued 1966). These may be supplemented by Georges Pillement, Paris inconnu, rev. ed. (1981). Jean Basti, Gographie du Grand Paris (1984), describes the geography of Greater Paris; Franois Chaslin, Les Paris de Franois Mitterrand: histoire des grands projets architecturaux (1985), describes architectural projects under President Mitterrand; and Pierre Merlin, Les Transports Paris et Ile-de-France (1982), discusses transportation in Paris and the le-de-France region. William Mahder (ed.), Paris Arts on Seine (1985), offers a lively view of cultural trends. John Ardagh, France Today, new rev. ed. (1987), has diverse materials on life in Paris. For information on churches, see Amde C.L. Boinet, Les glises parisiennes, 3 vol. (195864). Of sentimental interest are Lon-Paul Fargue et al., Dans les rues de Paris au temps des fiacres (1950); and R. Hron De Villefosse, Histoire et gographie galantes de Paris (1957). History General histories include Henry Bidou, Paris (1939; originally published in French, 1937); and Robert Laffont (ed.), The Illustrated History of Paris and the Parisians (1958; originally published in French, 1958; also published as Paris and Its People). Other major works include Marcel Pote, Une Vie de cit: Paris de sa naissance nos jours, 3 vol. and album (192431); Lucien Dubech and Pierre D'Espezel, Histoire de Paris, 2 vol. (1931); and Philippe Lefranois, Paris travers les sicles, 10 vol. (194856). For the history of the city's growth, see particularly R. Hron De Villefosse, Construction de Paris (1938). Studies of special periods include Paul M. Duval, Paris antique: des origines au troisime sicle (1961); and Bernard Champigneulle, Paris de Napolon nos jours (1969). Among analytical works are Daniel Roche, The People of Paris: An Essay in Popular Culture in the 18th Century (1987; originally published in French, 1981); David Garrioch, Neighbourhood and Community in Paris, 17401790 (1986); Lenard R. Berlanstein, The Working People of Paris, 18711914 (1984); Ann-Louise Shapiro, Housing the Poor of Paris, 18501902 (1985); and Jerrold Seigel, Bohemian Paris: Culture, Politics, and the Boundaries of Bourgeois Life, 18301930 (1986). Herbert R. Lottman, The Left Bank: Writers, Artists, and Politics from the Popular Front to the Cold War (1982), details the intellectual life in Paris during the 20th century. Norma Evenson, Paris: A Century of Change, 18781978 (1979), presents the city's evolution from a planner's point of view. Blake Ehrlich John Anthony Charles Ardagh