The capital of the French republic has a large variety of every possible sights thanks to which Paris is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities of our planet. And such names as, for example, Arc de Triomphe, Place Charles de Gaulle, the Louvre, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame de Paris, are nearly synonyms of Paris. Millions of tourists from every corner of the globe come here to see all these creations of architecture annually.

In this article we would like to pay our attention to such phenomena as old Parisian streets and to tell about most known of them.

One of the most known Parisian streets is Rue de Rivoli which is a symbol of time of Napoleonic Empire. Rue de Rivoli has appeared thanks to Napoleon emperor’s order. He decided to change the shape of the city, having cleaned the ground from monasteries and replaced them with the arcades seen in Italy.

Rue Rivoli takes its beginning from Place de la Concorde, lies along Tuileries, northern part of the well-known Louvre, and reaches Marais.

Rue de Rivoli arcades are well-known all over the world for a long time and attract attention of tourists who are visiting Paris. What is remarkable, the street with the arcades became a place of “pilgrimage” for foreigners in the middle of the nineteenth century most of whom were representatives of the Great Britain. So, during those far times representatives of the British aristocracy without fail included visiting Rue de Rivoli in their schedule of stay in Paris making their continental tourist trips. Standard for the Englishman in Paris of that time was considered to stop in Meurice, to visit English bookshop Galignani every morning to get a fresh release of the newspaper, and for traditional British tea drinking it was nothing better than salon Angelina. All these places have successfully survived centuries and please many tourists till now.

A little to the north from Rue de Rivoli one more well-known street of Paris settles down – street Saint-Honore which is as long as Rue de Rivoli. For walking travelers at all extent of the street, beginning from Madeleine to the well-known Place Vendom, houses of such legendary persons for France, as Molière and Robespierre appear. In the street Saint-Honore there are a lot of famous buildings are situated, among them is one of the oldest drugstores of a city and legendary shop of tobacco products La Civette, hotel Costes highly popular among representatives of Hollywood.

And that important element which makes Rue de Rivoli and Saint-Honore related is the Place Vendom which is in some distance from both streets but invariably associates with them. It has appeared in the second half of the seventeenth century only to be decorated with a majestic statue of “king-sun” Louis XIV on a horse made in bronze. And in a consequence the area has received its statue and many other components, and the recognition of the area as one of the most beautiful in Paris. The local architectural ensemble consists of houses constructed in popular at that time Baroque style which is recognizable for different arches and a great number of penthouses. A remarkable fact is that the word “penthouse” or “mansard” is obliged by its origin to architect François Mansart – the “father” of these constructions. These most beautiful houses continue to please visitors with their magnificence up till now. But the fate of the statue is rather cruel: it has staid for exactly hundred years until the furious crowd of revolutionaries has dumped it from its pedestal in 1792. Today its place is occupied by the well-known column casted out of trophy armory devoted by Napoleon to the victory in the battle under Austerlitz.

Certainly, it is impossible to describe all delights of these places, therefore, visiting Paris, find time and have a look at Rue Rivoli and Sent-Honore, and also the Place Vendom with your own eyes. Believe us, you will not be disappointed!