Paris’ history begins on the Île de la Cité in central Paris, which was inhabited by the Parisii who called their stronghold Lutetia (Lutece). The Romans then built up more on the Left Bank, particularly in the area where the Panthéon now stands, which is on a hill known as the Montagne Ste-Genevieve. Sainte Genevieve’s illustrious career involved saving the city from Attila by dint of her perfect holiness and then going on to convert Clovis, who became the first king of France. At this point, “France” only consisted of Paris and the area that makes up the Île de France until successive kings and monarchs drew in more of their rivals’ lands, centralizing the kingdom’s power in Paris. The university was formally established in 1215, placing Paris at the centre of European intellectual activity.However, plagues and wars in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries left Paris bereft of inhabitants and in quite a pickle. Sanitation continued to be terrible after these calamities and the locals were discontent, chasing King Louis XIV out of Paris in the mid seventeenth century. In 1670 he moved into the Palace of Versailles, a discreet out-of-town pad just a few leagues to the south east of Paris.

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