Presentation
How did Paris become the world's most beautiful city? The French Library is pleased to make available a series of seven lectures about the evolution of the urban landscape of the City of Light from Roman times until today, given by Russell Kelley for the cultural organization WICE in Paris between April 8 and May 20, 2020. The lectures are each between 60 and 90 minutes long and are accompanied by over 1,000 maps, prints and photographs, focusing on the structures that can still be seen today. One new lecture will be made available each Thursday for the next seven weeks, starting on May 14 and ending on June 25. The entire lecture series will be available for viewing until July 31, 2020.Russell Kelley is the author of The Making of Paris, illustrated with more than 120 historical maps, prints and photographs, to be published this fall by Globe Pequot Press. He has lived and worked in Paris for over 25 years. A dedicated flâneur, he has personally walked every street and admired every existing structure mentioned in his lectures.
PART 1 THE MAKING OF PARIS:
FROM ROMAN TIMES THROUGH THE MIDDLE AGES (52 BC – 1515)The first thousand years of the history of Paris were marked by successive invasions – by Romans, Huns, Franks and Vikings. During the Middle Ages, Paris took on its current configuration of Cité - Ville - Université, setting the stage for the great urban planners of the 17th and 19th centuries.
