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Latin Quarter, Paris

5th arrondissement of Paris6th arrondissement of ParisDistricts of ParisLatin Quarter, ParisRestaurant districts and streets in France
Student quartersTourist attractions in ParisUrban quarters in France
P1300735 Paris V chapelle La Sorbonne rwk
P1300735 Paris V chapelle La Sorbonne rwk

The Latin Quarter of Paris (French: Quartier latin, IPA: [kaʁtje latɛ̃]) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, the Latin Quarter is the home to a number of higher education establishments besides the university itself, such as : Paris City University (with the Faculté de Médecine de Paris) ; Sorbonne University (with Sorbonne and Jussieu university campus) PSL University (with the École Normale Supérieure - PSL and the École des Mines de Paris - PSL campuses) ; Panthéon-Assas University ; Panthéon-Sorbonne University (with the École de droit de la Sorbonne) ; the Collège de France ; and the Schola Cantorum.Other establishments such as the École Polytechnique have relocated in recent times to more spacious settings. The area gets its name from the Latin language, which was widely spoken in and around the University during the Middle Ages, after the twelfth century philosopher Pierre Abélard and his students took up residence there.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Latin Quarter, Paris (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Latin Quarter, Paris
Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris 5th Arrondissement (Paris)

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 48.851416666667 ° E 2.3431666666667 °
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Address

Boulevard Saint-Michel
75006 Paris, 5th Arrondissement (Paris)
Ile-de-France, France
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P1300735 Paris V chapelle La Sorbonne rwk
P1300735 Paris V chapelle La Sorbonne rwk
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Saint-Michel cinema attack

On October 22, 1988, an integrist Catholic group set fire to the Saint Michel cinema in Paris while it was showing the film The Last Temptation of Christ. A little after midnight, an incendiary device ignited under a seat in the less supervised underground room, where a different film was being shown. The incendiary device consisted of a charge of potassium chlorate, triggered by a vial containing sulphuric acid.The attack injured thirteen people, four of whom were severely burned. The Saint Michel cinema was heavily damaged, and reopened three years later after restoration. The Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger, had previously condemned the film without having seen it, but also condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators "enemies of Christ".The attack was subsequently blamed on a Christian fundamentalist group linked to Bernard Antony, a representative of the far-right Front National (NF) to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and the excommunicated followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Similar attacks against cinemas included graffiti, setting off tear-gas canisters and stink bombs, and assaulting filmgoers. At least nine people believed to be members of the Christian fundamentalist group were arrested. Five militants of a group called "General Alliance Against Racism and for Respect of the French and Christian Identity" (Alliance générale contre le racisme et pour le respect de l'identité française et chrétienne) were given suspended prison sentences of between 15 and 36 months, as well as a 450,000 franc fine for damages.Rene Remond, a historian, said of the Christian far-right, "It is the toughest component of the National Front and it is motivated more by religion than by politics. It has a coherent political philosophy that has not changed for 200 years: it is the rejection of the revolution, of the republic and of modernism."

Boulevard Saint-Michel
Boulevard Saint-Michel

Boulevard Saint-Michel (French pronunciation: ​[bulvaʁ sɛ̃ miʃɛl]) is one of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris, the other being Boulevard Saint-Germain. It is a tree-lined boulevard which runs south from the Pont Saint-Michel on the Seine and Place Saint-Michel, crosses Boulevard Saint-Germain and continues alongside the Sorbonne and the Jardin du Luxembourg, ending at the Place Camille Jullian just before the Port-Royal RER station and the Avenue de l'Observatoire. It was created by Baron Haussmann to run parallel to Rue Saint-Jacques which marks the historical north-south axis of Paris. It is known colloquially as Boul'Mich' in French. The boulevard serves as a boundary between the 5th and 6th arrondissements of Paris; odd-numbered buildings on the eastern side are in the 5th arrondissement and even numbers on the western side are in the 6th. It has a length of 1,380 m (4,530 ft), an average width of 30 m (98 ft) and takes its name from the Pont Saint-Michel. As the central axis of the Latin Quarter, it has long been a hotbed of student life and activism, but tourism is also a major commercial focus of the street and designer shops have gradually replaced many small bookshops. The northern part of the boulevard is now the most frequented, due to its bookstores (such as Gibert Joseph and the Gibert Jeune), cafes, cinema and clothes shops. The main buildings of the boulevard are the Musée de Cluny, the Lycée Saint-Louis, the École des Mines and the university facilities of the Sorbonne.