The Bois de Vincennes, on the east, even larger, is similarly adorned with artificial lakes and streams, and its high plateau offers a fine view over the surrounding country.
The most celebrated and extensive cemetery in Paris is Père la Chaise (one hundred and six and one-half acres), finely situated and containing the tombs of many celebrities. The Catacombs are ancient quarries which extend under a portion of the southern part of the city, and in them are deposited the bones removed from old cemeteries now built over.
Cathedrals and Churches.—Of the churches of Paris the most celebrated is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, situated on one of the islands of the Seine, called the Île de la Cité. It is a vast cruciform structure, with a lofty west front flanked by two square towers, the walls sustained by many flying-buttresses, and the eastern end octagonal.
The church of La Madeleine, a modern structure in the style of a great Roman temple, with a peristyle of lofty Corinthian columns, stands on an elevated basement fronting the north end of the Rue Royale. It is considered by many to be the most beautiful edifice in Paris.
The Pantheon, or church of St. Geneviève, patron saint of Paris (1764) was begun as a church, but converted by the Constituent Assembly into a temple dedicated to the great men of the nation. Napoleon III. restored it to the church and rededicated it to St. Geneviève, but once more, on the occasion of the funeral of Victor Hugo (1885), it was reconverted into a valhalla. There are the tombs also of Voltaire, Rousseau, Marat and Victor Hugo.
PALACE OF JUSTICE, PARIS
The Sainte Chapelle, in the south court of the Palais of Justice is the most beautiful example of Gothic in Paris.
St. Eustache (1532-1637) is an interesting example of French Renaissance architecture; and others worthy of note are: St. Germain l’Auxerrois; St. Gervais; St. Roch; St. Sulpice; Notre Dame de Lorette; and St. Vincent de Paul. On the very summit of Montmartre is the Church of the Sacred Heart, a vast new structure in the Byzantine style which cost over five million dollars. The chief French Protestant churches are the Oratoire and Rédemption. There are several English, Scotch, and American churches, a Russian Greek church, and several synagogues.