The history of Paris goes back to as early as the III century BCE. The people who used to inhabit the territory of contemporary Paris were called Parisii, and that's where goes the etimology of the name of the city itself. The signs of their culture were found under the foundation of Cathedral de Notre Dame de Paris in the form of remnants of altars of the pagan tribe. The history of Parisii stopped with the Roman assault in the year 52 BCE when Roman army broke into the Celtic settlement and destroyed it and then re-arranged the city to be their administrative center. Gradually the town was transferred to the Left Bank of the Seine. It was Roman conquerors who gave the city the name of Paris paying tribute to the defeated founders of the town in the year 360 AD after proclaiming the Roman prefect an Emperor.

In the course of the V century the authority of Roman rulers in Paris loosened Later on in 476 AD Paris survived another incineration, this time by the tribe of Franks, and from this time the history of France as a full-fledged Kingdom which was quickly developing and shortly after the whole city of Paris was turned into Christianity. A grand dynasty of Carolings was initiated with the Pepin the Short's throne ascension in 751. With the next suzerain of Carolingian dynasty, Charlemange, moved the capital of France to Aix-La-Chapelle. The reign of Carolings however was marked by dramatic devastation and decline in both political and economical spheres of the Kingdom. This period was followed by an epoch of prosperity and territorial expansion in France started with the inauguration of Hugues Capet in 987. It was then that the capital was transferred back to Paris.

Carolingian dynasty was replaced by Bourbons who reigned in France over the XVI and the XVII centuries. Henri IV was the first king of Bourbon dynasty to rule France.  After Francois Ravaillac's successful attempt to assassinate the king the throne was taken by the king's immediate heir, Louis XIII, a notoriously famous suzerain who brought France to a deep economical and political stagnation. The devastated nation, overburdened with unreasonably high taxes and frustrated by the absence of social protection and poor quality of life conditions resulted in a mass armed assault of the Bastille Tower in 1789 which was looked upon as a symbol of suppressing monarchy. Thus, the day of Bastille storming, July 14, ahs become the birthday of the French Revolution of the XVIII century. The whole royal family was sentenced to death.

Thus had begun yet another glorious chapter of the French history the epicenter of which was Paris. Post-revolutionary havoc in the city was taken under control by a young promising Corsican general, whom we now know as Napoleon Bonaparte. The young general soon turned into a great conqueror that all Europe feared and proclaimed himself an Emperor of France in 1804. Napoleon Bonaparte ensured the failure of the royalist revolt and led numerous campaigns to conquer new territories from Italy to Egypt in Africa. Napoleon started a brand new dynasty which withered much too soon by the middle of the XIX century and Louis-Napoleon substituted Emperor Napoleon III at the French throne.

The times of Louis-Napoleon?s reign are known to be the most glorious times of France whatsoever. Paris was quickly expanding and developing. The Emperor was much interested in making his capital opulent and glamorous the way we know it now. For this he entrusted Baron Haussmann with building wonderful city parks, very first shopping malls and attraction venues.

The definite end to the reigning of Napoleon dynasty was put abruptly in the course of the Franco ?Prussian War in 1871. France lost, and the victorious army stormed into the city keeping its architecture but imposing unbearable rules over the conquered citizens. At about this very time a new government of the French Republic was proclaimed called Paris Commune. The purpose of the newly formed authority was to assert the rights of the suppressed French citizens choking under harsh conditions the victors put over them. But the Republic did not last for long, and the government fell apart 71 day after. The Third French Republic was drowned in blood of the street slaughters which signaled the end of Paris Commune. Many districts of Paris were burnt down to the ground and had to be rebuilt with time.

For comprehensible reasons, this period in the history of France is looked upon as a time of great tragedies. Nevertheless, Paris succeeded in rising from the ruins and ashes it was left in more glorious than ever before. This epoch gave the world many talented artists (the Impressionist style in painting was developed exactly at that time) and architectural assets, including the universally admired Eiffel Tower.

During the World War I Paris hardly escaped the horrors of occupation. Despite of France?s being on the side of the winning party Paris suffered the mishaps of war just like any other city of the world during this time. The years after the World War I brought nothing but political unsettling to the country in general and Paris in particular.

The more shattering blow for the country was World War II which closely followed the previous war. Neither the government nor the city was ready for the new war. This time Paris did not escape the destiny of the majority of the European cities and was occupied until the liberation of 1944 carried out by the Allied Forces. France celebrates its Victory Day on the 25th of August.

Paris recovered from the horrors of the World War II much faster than it had done after the World War I. nowadays city astonishes its visitors with breathtaking sceneries and fabulous architecture, the indigenous combination of old buildings contrasting the futuristic architectural embellishments.