THE CITÉ AND THE LEFT BANK OF THE SEINE.

The Cité (Pl. E, 20, 23, 22 ; V) is the most ancient part of Paris.
Here lay, in the time of Caesar, the Gallic town of Lutetia Parisiorum.
and the Paris of the Romans and the Franks was confined to the
same site, with the addition of a small settlement on the left bank
of the Seine. At a later period the town gradually extended on
the right bank, but the Cité still retained its prestige as the seat
of the old Royal Palace and of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. On
one side of Notre-Dame rose the Episcopal Palace and the Hôtel-
Dieu, originally an asylum for pilgrims and the poor ; on the other
side was the Cloître Notre-Dame, or house of the Canons, who play
so prominent a part in the history of the university. In the Cité the
predominant element in the population was the ecclesiastical, while
the burgesses and the men of letters chiefly occupied the districts to
the N. (right bank, la Ville) and S. (left bank, l'Université) respect-
ively. — The Cité has long ceased to be the centre of Parisian life,
but it possesses the two finest sacred edifices in Paris, the Cathedral
of Notre-Dame and the Sainte-Chapelle. The Hôtel-Dieu still exists,
but the site of the royal palace is occupied by the Palais de Justice.

The semicircular part of Paris which lies on the left bank of the
Seine forms fully one-third of the whole city, its distinctive feature
consisting of numerous learned institutions, the chief of which is
the Sorbonne, or university, in the Quartier Latin. At the W. end
of this part of the town are several ministries and embassies, the
Chambre des Députés, the Senate, a number of large military establish-
ments, and the residences of the old aristocracy (in the Quartier St.
Germain). The chief objects of interest on the left bank are the
Palais du Luxembourg with its gallery of modern works of art, the
Panthéon, the Musée de Cluny, the Jardin des Plantes, and the
Hôtel des Invalides.

15. The Cité and the Ile St. Louis.

The Cité is approached from the right bank of the Seine by the
Pont-Neuf, the Pont au Change, the Pont Notre-Dame, and the Pont
d'Arcole (p. 169).

The Pont-Neuf (Pl. R, 20; V), at the W. end of the Cité, a
bridge 360 yds. in length and 25 yds. in width, crossing both arms
of the Seine, is, in spite of its name, the oldest bridge in Paris. It