GOTHIC PARIS

Well, we took another trip to Paris. We took this trip on October 25-26...we are juast a little slow at posting this blog. This time however we Paris little different...we went on a Gothic Paris Tour. On this trip we got to see the Catacombs, Père Lachaise Cemetery, the Eiffel Tower and the bell towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. The trip was a lot of fun! We met a lot of wonderful people that we got to hang out with on the trip. We love that we are starting to actually meet people when we go on trips! We thought that we would do things a little different this time and give you a little information on each of the places that we saw as well as a few pictures.

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CATACOMBS

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The Catacombs ossuary was created at the end of the 18th century due to the closure in 1780 of the largest cemetery in Paris, the Saints Innocents, in the Halled district, which the local inhabitants believed was a danger to public health. The Counsel of State issued a decree on 9 November 1785 authorizing the transfer of the bones. The quarrying service, created by decree in the King's Counsel on 4 April 1777 and responsible for protecting and reinforcing the ground beneath Paris, was asked to select a suitable site. The choice fell on a quarry called the "Tombe-Issoire", which was subsequently adapted for use. Bones from every cemetery in Paris were transferred to the site until 1860, including those uncovered during Haussmann's urban development works. The Catacombs were opened to the public at the beginning of the 19th century, exciting a great deal of interest and attracting huge crowds of visitors.

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PERE LACHAISE CEMETARY

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Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France at, though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs. Père Lachaise is one of the most famous cemeteries in the world. Located in the 20th arrondissement, it is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the graves of those who have enhanced French life over the past 200 years. It is also the site of three World War I memorials.

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NOTRE DAME CATHEDRIAL

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Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Ile de la Cite in Paris France, with its main entrance to the west. It is the cathedral of Paris and the seat of the Archbishop of that city. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. It was restored and saved from destruction by Viollet-le-Duc, one of France's most famous architects. The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, giving them a more secular look that was lacking from earlier Romanesque architecture.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave. After the construction began and the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued as such.

The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.

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EIFFEL TOWER

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Why was the Eiffel Tower Built The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World Fair which also coincided with the centenary of the French Revolution. Out of a number of designs submitted as part of a competition, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel won, and was responsible for erecting the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower Facts Even though it is one of the best known monuments worldwide, many facts about the Eiffel Tower are not known to many. Following are a few important facts about the Eiffel Tower.

-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower began on January 26, 1887

-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower was completed on March 31, 1889

-- Erection of the Eiffel Tower took 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days from start to finish

-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was the main architect, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier were the main engineers, Stephen Sauvestre was the main architect, and Jean Compagnon handled the construction of the Eiffel Tower

-- Alexandre Gustave Eiffel is the very person who created the internal frame of the Statue of Liberty in the year 1885

-- The Eiffel Tower stands 324 meters tall

-- Material used for the Eiffel Tower is wrought iron (puddle iron) of the highest quality
-- The Eiffel Tower was made using 9441 tons of wrought iron

-- A total of 18038 pieces of wrought iron were joined together to create the Eiffel Tower

-- Approximately 60 tons of paint is required to paint the Eiffel Tower

-- The Eiffel Tower is painted every 7 years in 3 shades of brown (darkest shade at the bottom) -- Even today painting the Eiffel Tower is done using brushes
-- In clear weather (very seldom seen today) you can see approximately 42 miles from the top of the Eiffel Tower

-- The base of the Eiffel Tower covers a square area of 100 meters

-- During gusty winds, the Eiffel Tower sways upto 15 cms at its summit

-- The names of 72 prominent French scientists and famous personalities are affixed on the sides of Eiffel Tower just beneath the first platform, 18 names per side

-- There was only one death during the construction period of the Eiffel Tower, that too outside working hours and not work related

-- The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1710 steps to the topmost third level small platform, 674 steps to the second level, and 347 steps to the first level, all counted from the ground

-- The Eiffel Tower was to be dismantled and the metal sold as scrap 20 years after it was constructed, but this never happened

-- The Eiffel Tower was the tallest structure when it was built, but this has been surpassed over the years