59 Amazing Facts About Paris That Will Amaze You | Legacy Facts

59 Amazing Facts About Paris

# Paris is also named as "The City of Lights." This is not just because of its historical period of enlightenment, but also because it was one of the world's first cities to set up street lights.

# Paris became the capital of France in 987 A.D.

# Paris is divided into 20 distinct "arrondissements," starting at the center and working their way out. The Louvre Museum is located in the 1st arrondissement, for reference.

# Rue Vaugirard, in the 15th arrondissement, is the longest street in Paris. The length is 4,360 meters.

# The shortest street in Paris is in the 2nd arrondissement, rue des Degrés. It is about 6 meters long.

# As of the beginning of 2019, Paris' population is 2.2 million, all living across city limits covering around 105 square kilometers.

# One of the facts about Paris is that living in Paris is expensive. It is rated in luxury housing as the fifth most expensive city, but 62 percent of the buildings date back to 1949.

# Paris is a great place for youngsters! With over 450 parks and gardens in the city, spread across more than 1200 acres (485 hectares), there's plenty of space to run wild. The two most popular are Garden Tuileries and Garden Luxembourg.

# The Parisian government awards prizes to parents who have "raised several children with dignity" effectively.

# Paris is the latest destination for cycling. They take their eco-friendly initiative seriously, with more than 500 km of bike lanes throughout the city.

# In Paris there are more dogs than children. Parisians love their furry friends, so it's not surprising to see their owners take them to a doggy spa.

# Counting and reporting Paris trees is somebody's work. The most recent count? About 470,000. Parisians are proud people, and they have a unified approach to maintain the beauty of their green city.

# Paris has only one stop sign. Yeah, we're as shocked as you are.

# Becoming a taxi driver in Paris is an expensive business activity. To get a taxi license, drivers must pay up to 200,000 Euros.

# Facts about Paris: If you are a cheese fiend, head to Paris to try just a couple of the 1,000 different cheese varieties in France.

# Are you a coffee fan? If yes, you'll be thrilled to bits in Paris. In the city, there are 181 coffee spots offering espressos for as little as € 1 (1 euro). The cool thing is, there's a map to help find each one of them.

# In Paris, the strong black coffee or espresso is very popular, and there are more than 200 places in Paris where you can get a cup of espresso for less than one euro.

# Paris is home to some of the world's best bakeries. Around 1200 bakeries are located in Paris.

# The Paris Métro is the 4th largest public transportation system in the world, with 302 stations.

# Paris has roughly a dozen ghost stations. Among them is the Porte Molitor station, built-in 1923, which was originally intended to gain access to the Parc des Princes Stadium. Today, the tracks are used as a train garage.

# The First tower, situated in La Défense's business quarter, is the tallest skyscraper in France at 231 meters.

# In 1944 Hitler ordered the tower to be destroyed when the Nazis invaded Paris. Thankfully, the general he gave the order to ignore the command, and today we are all fortunate enough to have the Eiffel Tower.

# Paris includes a total of 1,803 monuments and 173 museums.

# The Paris train stations are home to dozens of pianos. The concept "Play me I'm yours," introduced by the SNCF, is being held in various cities around the world.

# Paris is known for its legendary luxury and beauty scene, with brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Lacroix, Lancôme, Givenchy, and Christian Louboutin all originate here. And this is just to name a few of.

# One of the most amazing facts about Paris is that it has about 40,000 restaurants!

# Paris has nearly 9,100 open terrace restaurants, bars, and cafes. Hard to choose with so many options.

# Autumn is the most favorable season to visit Paris, not only because the city is quieter and more stunning, but also because there are significant sales in the supermarkets and free entrances to many museums, galleries, and other sights.

# If you want to ask your question in English, don't be shocked to hear the answer in French from a Parisian. Parisians like their language very much and don't like to speak English, particularly with tourists.

# This will come as no surprise that Paris has the largest number of Michelin Star restaurants in the world. Check out L'Arpège, Hotel le Bristol, or Pierre Gagnaire if you are on the world-class food market in Paris.

# It will take you about 135 minutes to walk from the Northside of Paris to the South. Luckily, you'll hardly realize it's such a great walking city.

# The Louvre (or Musée du Louvre to locals) is the largest art gallery and museum in the world, featuring more than 38,000 pieces of art within its walls. This is located at the very heart of Paris, on the right side of the Seine River.

# The Louvre is part of the Louvre Palace that housed the kings of France since the 13th century. Remnants of the original castle are still on display in the lower parts of the Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre).

# 10.8 million tourists passed through the doors of The Louvre in 2018, making it the most visited gallery on the world and the # 1 tourist attraction in France. 15,000 visitors each day, more than half of them are foreigners, head to The Louvre.

# The most highly trafficked work of art at the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, the super-famous painting of Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci. The artwork was marketed in 1962 for a record-breaking of $100 million that today amounts to $650 million.

# The Musée d'Orsay is a national museum in Paris, facing the river and on the left side of the Seine opposite the Louvre. The museum is internationally renowned for its impressionist art collection, and it is one of the main attractions in Paris.

# It is a Micky mouse that attracts the most visitors to Paris, with Disneyland Paris attracting more tourists than the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, or any other cultural attractions.

# Disneyland Paris is not placed exactly in Paris. It can be found in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée, about 32 km from the city. About 15 million visitors per year head to Disneyland Paris for loads of fun at the happiest spot on Earth!

# Facts about Paris: Paris has more than 400 movie screens, one hundred of them are controlled by the government's art program, Art et Essai.

# The Pont Neuf is Paris' oldest bridge, standing from 1604. But maybe the most famous bridge is the Pont des Arts, renowned for its thousands of "love locks", which locks visitors to the bridge securely and decorated with love notes.

# Paris is ten times older than any other countries and Le Procope, the city's oldest café, has been in service since 1686.

# The Eiffel Tower was the world's tallest man-made building for a time until it was replaced by the Chrysler Building in New York City in 1930.

# The tower is Europe's most famous landmark, valued at around 435 billion Euros.

# 25,000 people walk up the tower each day for the best views of Paris.

# Restaurants are available on the tower's first and second floor, as well as a champagne bar. However, the team that keeps the landmark running is organizing an adventure game for all tourists, a fun little activity whether you are with others or traveling alone.

# The oldest house is at 51, rue de Montmorency, 3 Arrondissement in Paris which was built in the year 1407!

# The city of Paris was called "Lutetia" under the Roman Empire around 300BC.

# Believe it or not, the most visited monument in Paris is the Notre-Dame cathedral in 2014 with more than 14 million tourists. It is still the most visited monument in the world, with around 12 million visitors each year.

# The popular Notre Dame Cathedral bell actually got a name! It is affectionately named Emmanuel and weighs 13 tons.

# The Paris Catacombs (Catacombes de Paris) are an underground network beneath the streets of Paris, and the final resting place of more than 6 million people!

# Each year half a million people go down into the darkness of the Catacombs. Once they enter, they are greeted with a "Stop" sign read. "This is the empire of death."

# For millions it may be a graveyard, but actual deaths in the Catacombs are rare. However, a worker named Philibert Aspairt died after getting lost in the Catacombs in 1793. Too actually lost, his body wasn't found for 11 years. Two adventurous teens lost for three days in the Catacombs in 2017 and were only discovered thanks to sniffer dogs. They were fine but very scared and very cold.

# Facts about Paris: In the past, the 20 Paris districts had many, many various names.

# The famous Statue of Liberty, from New York, was a French gift. Yet that doesn't mean France hasn't made a few for itself. At the moment there are ten Statues of Liberty in France, with just five in Paris.

# In fact, besides the Pont de l'Alma you will find the Flame of Liberty. In 1987 the International Herald Tribune gave it to the French people to symbolize the friendship between the French and the American.

# In 1911, Italian thief Vincenzo Peruggia stole the Mona Lisa making it the 20th century 's biggest art robbery. Peruggia, a former The Louvre employee, dressed in an employee uniform and just pulled it off the wall while no one was watching. Two years later, while attempting to sell it to an art dealer in his native Italy, he was arrested. He served in jail for just over a year before going on to a fairly crime-free life.

# The French Army still uses carrier pigeons – the only one still able to do so in Europe! Such pigeons are trained to carry important information in the case of an emergency, just like the owls in Harry Potter.

# Paris Facts: On the streets of Paris, there are on average 10 movies or commercial shoots per day.

# Shooting is free in Paris, except for scenes filmed in a park, museum, or pool. The film crew would have to pay the city a fee in this case.

# Do you dream much of dining in Paris? Okay, you probably should make a visit to Jim Haynes's house. For thirty years he has been welcoming total strangers to a dinner party at his house.

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