Paris city walls
The Paris city walls were the fortification rings around the French capital. There are essentially seven such wall rings. One counts as follows: after the hypothetical Gallic city fortifications, the Gallo-Roman, then two medieval ones, the city wall of Charles V, that of Louis XIII, called "the yellow trenches" (Fossés jaunes), and finally the wall of the general tax tenants ( Fermiers généraux ) and the Thiers ' wall (until 1919).
With the exception of the period from 1670 (demolition of the wall by Louis XIII on the orders of Louis XIV) to 1785, the beginning of the construction of the wall ring of the Fermiers généraux (also called Mur d'Octroi), Paris was always from until the 20th century surrounded by a wreath. In the course of the population growth, this ring of fortifications shifted further and further outwards, leaving only relatively minor structural traces: some of the tax pavilions created by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux are still reminiscent of the Mur des Fermiers généraux.
The fastening rings live on as road rings:
- The Grands Boulevards mark the course of the city walls of Louis XIII,
- the outer boulevards ( boulevards extérieurs ) the wall ring of the Fermiers généraux.
- The Boulevards des Maréchaux mark the inner connecting road of the Thiers city fortifications.
- The boulevard périphérique was created in the 1960s as part of the associated zone non aedificandi .
history
Julius Caesar already called Paris an oppidum, i.e. a fortified settlement on an island in the Seine ( Id est oppidum Parisiorum, quod positum est in insula fluminis Sequanae ). Whether it is actually today's Île de la Cité is disputed. One thing is certain: in AD 285, the residents of Lutetia fled from the left bank of the Seine to the Île de la Cité and fortified its east side with stone material from the Lutetia arena . No traces have yet been found of the first medieval wall ring from the 10th century. More is known about the wall of King Philip Augustus . It was built from 1190 to 1213 and enclosed 253 hectares of land on both sides of the Seine.
From 1356 to 1383 was under the kings Charles V and Charles VI. France erected a new city wall. It enclosed 439 hectares of land and only extended its predecessor structure on the right bank of the river, mainly around the Marais district . On the occasion of the construction of the wall by Ludwig XIII it was removed. This construction phase took place from 1633 to 1636 according to plans by Jacques Lemercier. This also only extended the wall ring on the right bank of the Seine. The demolition took place from 1670. The wall ring of the Fermiers generaux enclosed 3370 hectares of land. It served to collect the indirect tax ( excise ) on goods that were brought to Paris. The demolition took place after the borders of Paris were extended to the Thiers wall wreath in 1860. This was a favorite project of the citizen king Louis-Philippe. This mighty, 33-kilometer-long city fortification with its 94 bastions and 17 city gates was actually completely out of date when it was built. It was razed in 1919.
literature
- Des Fortifs au Périf , exhibition catalog of the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, Paris 1992
