Montagne Sainte-Geneviève
The Montagne Sainte-Geneviève (German Hill of Saint Genoveva ) is a natural elevation in the 5th arrondissement of Paris , which is named after the Parisian patron saint Geneviève . It rises from the left bank ( Rive Gauche ) of the Seine to a height of 61 m and is crowned by the Panthéon . In earlier times the Bièvre , now underground and connected to the sewer system, flowed at its eastern foot and flows into the Seine at the level of the eastern tip of the Île de la Cité .
The Latin Quarter was built on the slopes of the hill .
history
The banks of the Seine around Paris had been inhabited since the Neolithic . The first Celtic settlement of the Parisii was centered on the larger of the Seine islands called Lutetia .
Gallo-Roman time
In the course of the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar , after the battle of Alésia in 52 BC. BC Lutetia was also taken by the Romans, an event that transformed the small village of Lutetia into a Gallo-Roman city. For strategic reasons, the new rulers chose the dominant location on the northern slope of the hill, which rose on the Rive Gauche , the left, southern bank of the Seine for building a new city based on the Roman model . From there they could observe the Gallic island settlement and the Seine and thus also control the trade on the Seine. The oldest remains of Roman settlement date around the turn of the millennium, at the beginning of the 1st century AD. A typical Roman Colonia emerged , a newly founded provincial town to secure conquered areas. Its center was the forum , which was built just a few meters below the top of the hill .
- The road network
Today on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève - apart from the amphitheater and the thermal baths - the only reminder of Roman times is the chessboard-shaped road network with two main traffic axes at right angles to each other. The Cardo , which runs from north to south, corresponds to Rue Saint-Jacques . He was relieved of the parallel via inferior , today's Boulevard Saint-Michel . Half a decumanus has so far only been clearly identified on the right bank under the Rue Saint-Antoine ; the course of the main decumanus on the left bank, which runs from east to west, is questionable. It was built over over the centuries and can no longer be seen today. It could have led through what is now the Jardin du Luxembourg or it could have been in the place of the Rue des Écoles . All other streets ran parallel to these two axes and divided the city into equally large blocks of flats, so-called insulae . The streets are still in the same place these days.
- The forum
The forum, the market square and meeting place and thus the center of every Roman city, was on the summit of Genoveva Mountain, about 200 meters west of the Pantheon , west from Boulevard Saint-Michel , south from Rue Sufflot and east from of Rue Saint-Jacques (the Cardo ) limited.
The year of construction is to be set in the middle of the 1st century AD, i.e. between 41 and 79 AD. The uniformity of the floor plan suggests a single architect, but style features, e.g. B. found on column capitals that suggest reconstruction work in the 2nd century AD.
The forum was bordered all around by porticoed halls that were open towards the center; on the west side there was a roofed hall, known as the basilica , which served both as a trading and court space. The forum was accessed via two gates on the north and south sides.
- Cluny thermal baths
Another facility that was found in almost all Roman cities were the thermal baths , public baths, which were not only used for bathing alone, but also contributed to body care and hygiene in general. They also represented a kind of social meeting point. Some of the Paris thermal baths have still been preserved. They were located between Boulevard Saint-Germain and Rue des Écoles . They covered exactly one block of flats ( insula ) in the rectangular plan of the Roman city. Today, the main courtyard of the Musée national du Moyen Âge (National Medieval Museum) is in its place .
- The aqueduct
Because of the thermal baths in particular, the Roman city had an enormous demand for water, so that water from the surrounding area had to be brought in using an aqueduct. Water that came from springs in what are now Chilly-Mazarin , Morangis , Wissous and Paray-Vieille-Poste , all around 16 km south of Paris, was channeled into the city using a 26 km system of canals and aqueducts.
middle Ages
The French King Clovis I founded the monastery of the Holy Apostles in Paris on the top of this hill in the 5th century . The holy Genevieve used on a particular path, the Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève , climb up the hill. Soon afterwards, the monastery was renamed the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève . Clovis and St. Genoveva were buried there.
Modern times
Today the dominant building on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève is the Panthéon, completed in 1790. This building was built as the church of the Abbey of St. Genoveva by the French King Louis XV. commissioned to keep an oath: seriously ill, he had vowed to have the Genoveva of Paris build a new church when he recovered.
The Montagne Sainte-Geneviève is part of the university district Latin Quarter . There are a number of important educational and research institutions there, partly on the former monastery ground.
Educational and research institutions
- the Sorbonne , headquarters of the Paris University,
- the Collège de France ,
- the École normal supérieure ,
- the Institute Curie ,
- the Lycée Henry IV ,
- the Lycée Louis-le-Grand ,
- the Lycée Saint-Louis ,
- the former Faculty of Law,
- the former École polytechnique ,
Coordinates: 48 ° 51 ' N , 2 ° 21' E