An island in the river Seine, the Île de la Cité is the center of the city of Paris and has been important throughout its history. The island was once inhabited by the Parisii, a tribe of Gauls in the Iron Age, from which the city gets its name. The Île de la Cité has often been a place of refuge during time of siege and is home to the Notre Dame cathedral, built in 1163. Above is my favorite, although not the traditional view, of the cathedral.For more on the Gauls and a great discussion of their legacy in France today, see Michael Dietler's Our Ancestor's the Gauls: archaeology, ethnic nationalism, and the manipulation of Celtic identity in modern Europe.
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