It is widely acknowledged that Paris has no centre in the way that Westminster would be to London and Manhattan to New York. The river Seine creating a Right Bank divides it into two however and a left bank of equal importance with the Isle de la Cite situated in between. Symbolically at least this little islet can act as a centre with its imposing cathedral Notre Dame acting as the centre of the compass. Notre Dame stands on a location that has been a place of Prayer for approximately the last 2000 years (perhaps explaining the reputed poignancy of the Millennium prayers conducted at the cathedral). A "Gallow-Roman temple was succeeded by an Early Christian Basilica, then a Romanesque church, and finally by the present cathedral" which was founded by Bishop Maurice de Sully in 1163. Many great celebrations have taken place in this superlative example of gothic art including the mass taken by Pope Jean Paul the II in 1980. In 1831 due to a revived interest in the decaying cathedral generated by Victor Hugo's Notre Dame, the building was renovated and controversially altered in some areas by Viollet-le-Duc creating what we see today.

One of the chief reasons that most areas in Paris fail to disappoint even the most sceptical and determined critics boils down to the design of the apartment houses that are often awe inspiring. Apartments are the predominant mode of accommodation in a city twice as small as London but which contains a similar population size. Many examples of early renaissance Parisian architecture still survives today intact however the city dwellers were either very rich or very poor and subsequently resided in either splendid Italianesque houses or slums. It is mainly the seventeenth century therefore that witnesses the birth of the apartment flat that today houses the vast majority of its inhabitants. Some early examples in the rue Francois Miron that were inspired by the Places Royales (instigated by Henry IV) have stood the test of time. Similarly there are still remainders of 18th century apartments however the vast majority of Paris' urban expansion dates from the 19th century to accommodate the huge population inf

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Approximate Word count = 1455
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)