Landmarks in Paris

Also of note are the Académie Julian, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Café Anglais and Galerie Vivienne.

The Place des Vosges, established in 1612 to celebrate the wedding of Louis XIII to Anne of Austria lies at the border of the 3rd and 4th arrondissements and is the oldest planned square in Paris,[6] and the Place de la République was named after the constitutional change in France.

Place de la Bastille (4th, 11th and 12th arrondissements, right bank) is a district of great historical significance, for not just Paris, but also all of France.

Because of its symbolic value, the square has often been a site of political demonstrations, and it has a tall column commemorating the final resting place of the revolutionaries killed in 1830 and 1848.

[8] Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, La Force Prison, Centre Georges Pompidou and Lycée Charlemagne are notable institutions here.

[11] Also of note is the Arab World Institute, Musée Curie, Hotel des Trois Colleges, Jardin des Plantes, Musée national du Moyen Âge, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Paris Mosque, Paris Observatory, Sainte-Geneviève Library, and Théâtre de la Huchette.

[18] Place de la Concorde was built as the "Place Louis XV", site of the infamous guillotine and execution in 1793 of Louis XVI, the King of France during the French Revolution, (1789–1799), setting off the infamous "Reign of Terror", where the severed, bloody head of the King was exhibited to the crowds of Parisians.

On this square, on either side of the Rue Royale, there are two identical stone buildings: the eastern one houses the French Naval Ministry, the western the luxurious Hôtel de Crillon.

Avenue Montaigne, next to the Champs-Élysées, is home to luxury brand labels such as "Chanel", "Prada", "Christian Dior" and "Givenchy".

Also of note is Musée de l'Éventail, Hôpital Saint-Louis, The Kurdish Digital Library, Lariboisière Hospital, Lycée Edgar-Poe, Prison Saint-Lazare and the Saint Laurent and Saint-Vincent-de-Paul churches.

Opéra Bastille, the main facility of the Paris National Opera, was inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's "Grands Travaux".

Designed by Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, it is located at the Place de la Bastille and houses a 2,700-seat theatre as well as smaller concert hall and a studio.

[28] Institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France and École Estienne are located here, as is Les Olympiades, Paris Store, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Place d'Italie, and Stade Sébastien Charléty.

Montparnasse is a historic left bank area in the 14th arrondissement, the southern part of Paris, famous for artists' studios, music halls, and café life.

Other landmarks include the Catacombs of Paris, École normale supérieure de jeunes filles, Hôpital Cochin, Hôtel de Massa, Le Dôme Café, La Santé Prison, and Échelles du Baroque, the latter of which is a residential building complex, completed in 1985 by the international team Ricardo Bofill in the baroque style.

Dominating the river is the Front de Seine district with the newly reopened Beaugrenelle Shopping Center.

The Palais des Sports was built in 1960 to replace the old Vel' d'Hiv and has hosted many notable music concerts over the years.

[33] The 16th arrondissement is the largest district of Paris, marking the western side of the city, which extends beyond the left bank of the Seine.

are based here and play their home games at the Parc des Princes and Stade Roland Garros hosts the annual French Open tennis tournament.

Tennis Club de Paris, the Stade de Paris rugby club, Longchamp Racecourse, and the Auteuil Hippodrome, a horse racing venue established in 1873 and which hosted the equestrian events of the 1924 Summer Olympics are based in the 16th arrondissement.

A number of organizations are based in the 16th arrondissement, including Radio France and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

[36] La Défense, beyond the 17th arrondissement (straddling the communes of Courbevoie, Puteaux, and Nanterre, 2.5 km (2 mi) west of the city proper) is a key suburb of Paris and one of the largest business centres in the world.

Initiated by the French government in 1958, it now hosts 3,500,000 m2 (37,673,686 sq ft) of offices, making it the largest district in Europe developed specifically for business.

Plaine Saint-Denis (straddling the communes of Saint-Denis, Aubervilliers, and Saint-Ouen, immediately north of the 18th arrondissement, across the Périphérique ring road) is a former derelict manufacturing area that has undergone large-scale urban renewal since the 1980s,[41] and contains most of France's television studios as well as some major movie studios.

The 20th arrondissement marks the eastern suburbs of the city and contains the neighbourhood of Belleville and also borders the commune of the same name.

During the first half of the 20th century, many immigrants settled there: German Jews fleeing the Third Reich in 1933, and Spaniards in 1939, and it became a "Jewish ghetto".