When the Gauls were fighting against the Roman invaders the Parisii burned down their settlement to prevent that the Romans would cross the Seine river in this strategical place. However after the battle of Gergovia 52 BC – when the Gauls laid down their arms – the Romans reconstructed this city now called Lutetia around the year 50 BC in stone.

The city's nucleus is situated on isles in the Seine but after a short while the city has been enlarged to the left banks of the river Seine. The only remains you still find in our times are the thermal bath and the amphitheatre. Also some modern streets follow the ancient ones.

Although the Roman settlement of the Latin Quarter is provable its name has got another origin. In the year 1253 Robert de Sorbon established a theological college (the Sorbonne) in this quarter. Not long after, students whose language was Latin, which has later been employed for the quarter, have predominantly inhabited the lanes close to the institute.

Our walk starts at the ST. MICHEL tube station (a remarkable construction as it has to resist the Seine's high water). The stairway leads to the place St. Michel. A fountain that has been inspired by Rome's Fontana di Trevi and displays St. Michael's fight against the dragon dominates this place.

The Boulevard St. Michel to our right we walk along the banks of the Seine to St. Julien le Pauvre church. It has been built in the 12th and 13th century as well as Notre Dame and has been altered a few times after. Since 1889 St. Julien le Pauvre belongs to the Greek-catholic parish. St. Séverin is situated only a few yards away and it is often said to be most beautiful Gothic church in Paris.

The lanes around St. Séverin have originally been the residential area for students. Nowadays restaurants on both sides of the pedestrian precinct attract only tourists.

In this district, there are two main boulevards, St. Germain and St. Michel. Especially at the Boul' Mich' – as it is called by locals – the students of the Sorbonne and the colleges find shops where they may occasionally buy and sell literature and other things. It is time now for a first break and you can have a cup of tea or coffee in one of the nice cafés here.

At the crossing of Bd. St. Michel and Bd. St. Germain, we see the buildings of the National Museum for Middle Ages that has been installed in the mansion of the abbots of Cluny (15th century). We enter a small park and walk around the building to the entrance that is situated at Paul Painlevé place.

The exhibition is dedicated to medieval arts and crafts. The original heads of the royal statues of Notre Dame that have been cut off in the course of the revolution have been brought here (see Churches). One part of the museum is the Roman thermal baths that have been erected in the 2nd century AD. Some halls are still in a good condition and they are a part of the museum today.

Not far away you see the building of the Sorbonne. Most parts of this building have been constructed in the 19th century. The chapel is dated from cardinal Richelieu’s era and he is buried there. On the opposite side of rue St. Jacques there are some more colleges that have partly been founded in early renaissance.

We follow rue St. Jacques uphill. At the next large crossing we see the Pantheon to our left. After having recovered from a serious illness, Louis XV ordered to build a new church on the Ste. Geneviève hill dedicated the Paris’s patron saint of the same name. Soufflot, the architect, amended his plans several times but finally the foundations have been laid in 1764. After some trouble caused by the subsoil and the big dome the construction has been completed in 1790 by Soufflot’s successors.

But in these days – during the French revolution – no churches have been required anymore. In 1791, the national convent dedicated the church to the honour of the nation’s great men and created a mausoleum. In the early years some honourable men like Mirabeau (who was one of the first persons) were removed from the Pantheon when political winds had changed. Since then a person will not be introduced there before ten years after passing away.

In the course of the 19th century, the building’s destination changed several times between church and mausoleum and the architecture had always been adjusted to this. Since 1885 – when Victor Hugo has been introduced – the Pantheon has been the hall of fame we still know nowadays.

Among the honourable men of France who have been buried in the crypt there are Soufflot (the architect), Jean Monnet, Jean Moulin, Emile Zola and Louis Braille. April 20th 1995 was the day the first (and still the only) woman has been introduced: Marie Curie.

When you leave the Pantheon you should take your time for St. Etienne du Mont. This church’s style is more interesting than the Pantheon beside. As a result of the long construction of more than 130 years (1492 – 1626) the façade consists of elements from Gothic style to renaissance. The portal is remarkable, as three different gables have been built on top of each other.

The interior is bright and St. Etienne du Mont is the only church in Paris that still has a choir screen (a choir screen is a barrier separating the choir from the nave). The arc is nine metres wide and spiral staircases on both ends make access possible. One of the choir chapels is consecrated to Saint Geneviève, Paris’s patron saint. We must not leave the church unless we have regarded the twelve church windows exposed in the cloister that show scenes whose subjects are the New Testament and Christianity.

When we leave the church, rue Clovis is to our left. This lane leads to rue du Cardinal Lemoine and rue Monge. During construction of this street, the remains of a Roman amphitheatre – the “arènes de Lutèce” – have been discovered in 1869. It had an estimated capacity of circa 15,000 seats which surrounded an oval of 52 m by 46 m. Nowadays this location is a playground for people of the quarter.

Close at hand (via rue de Navarre and rue Lacépède) are the botanical gardens, the Jardin des Plantes, which invites us to relax. It developed from a garden of Louis XIII (17th century) that has soon been opened to the public. Some of France’s most famous natural scientists worked here over the centuries. The museum of natural history is worth seeing, too.

In front of the southwestern entrance, the mosque of Paris has been erected in Moorish style in the 1920s. The mosque is the centre of Muslim community in Paris. Except for the prayer room, the area (you also find a café, a steam bath and boutiques) is open to visitors.

Afterwards we return to rue Monge via rue Daubenton. We turn right and go rue Monge uphill to place Monge. From here we follow the signs to place de la Contrescarpe. The southwestern corner of this picturesque place is northern end of one of the oldest (a path already existed in Roman era) and busiest lanes in town, the rue Mouffetard.

We continue our walk downhill rue Mouffetard. Restaurants have always flanked it and boutiques however for a long time it had a bad reputation. No more unsafe or dangerous in modern times the lane is famous for the daily market on the southern end.

Beyond St. Médard church we arrive at the avenue des Gobelins. The national tapestry (= gobelin) manufactory is situated halfway to place d’Italie. The tapestries are not for sale –French authorities present them on special purposes. The manufactory has been founded in 1662 and employed more than 250 weavers in the past but it only employs some 20 persons today.

Our promenade ends at the important traffic junction place d’Italie. In its early days the famous inline skate event Pari Roller departed and arrived here every Friday.

Those who are tired after the long walk may return to the hotel but you still have the opportunity to go shopping in Italie 2 galleria or to discover China town which is not far from here…