8 Astonishing Stories Behind Paris’s Most Famous Landmarks (Including The Louvre)
Paris’s landmarks are world-famous, but what’s beneath the surface? These surprising stories will uncover a side of the city you never expected.
1. Eiffel Tower’s Secret Apartment
Gustave Eiffel built a small private apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower, hidden from public view during his time. It was furnished simply, with wooden furniture, a piano, and a desk.
Eiffel used it as a quiet retreat and to host important guests, including Thomas Edison. Today, the apartment is preserved as a museum exhibit and can be seen during certain tours.
2. Notre-Dame’s Resilient Bees
Since 2013, three beehives have sat on the roof of Notre-Dame Cathedral. They are part of a project to encourage biodiversity in urban spaces. Incredibly, the bees survived the 2019 fire that devastated the cathedral.
Their hives, located on a lower roof away from the flames, remain active, producing honey collected by caretakers.
3. The Catacombs’ Millions of Human Bones
The Paris Catacombs house the remains of over six million people. In the late 18th century, Paris faced a crisis with overflowing cemeteries. Authorities decided to move bones into the city’s underground quarries, creating the ossuary.
The tunnels stretch over 200 miles, but only a small portion is open to visitors today.
4. The Louvre’s Past as a Fortress
Before it became the world’s largest art museum, the Louvre was a medieval fortress built in the 12th century to defend Paris from invaders. Its thick walls and moat once protected the city’s western edge.
Over time, it evolved into a royal palace where kings expanded its grandeur. Hidden in the museum’s basement today, you can still see remnants of its original fortress walls, a reminder of its defensive beginnings.
5. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Arc de Triomphe)
Under the Arc de Triomphe is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which honors soldiers who died in World War I but were never identified.
An eternal flame has burned there since 1923 to remember their sacrifice. The eternal flame bursts forth from the mouth of a cannon captured from the enemy, placed at the center of a bronze shield, from which radiates a frieze of engraved swords.
Every evening, the flame is relit to keep their memory alive.
6. Sainte-Chapelle’s Stunning Stained Glass
The Sainte-Chapelle was made by King Louis IX in just seven years to hold sacred relics, including the Crown of Thorns – he bought the relic for more money than it cost to build the chapel. These relics made Paris an important center for faith and power in the Middle Ages.
The 15 windows stand 15 meters tall with over 1,000 biblical scenes in vivid detail. The fifteen 15-meter tall stained-glass windows, which survived the French Revolution, still show scenes from the Bible and the chapel’s history.
7. Musée d’Orsay’s Railway Station Origins
The Musée d’Orsay, known for its Impressionist art collection, was once a busy railway station. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, it served as a terminal for trains arriving from southwestern France. After falling into disuse, it was transformed into a museum in 1986.
8. Place de la Concorde’s Revolutionary Past
Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris, played a grim role in the French Revolution. It was the site of public executions by guillotine, including those of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. Today, the square is a major landmark, with the Luxor Obelisk standing at its center.