Paris 5th District
Paris 5th District is commonly known as Quartier du Panthéon. It is the second oldest district of Paris after the Ile de la Cité (1st-4th districts).
Paris 5th District includes: Quartier de la Sorbonne, Quartier Saint-Victor, Quartier du Jardin des Plantes and Quarter du Val de Grâce.
Paris 5th district boasts the highest concentration of remains of the Gallo-Roman city that developed about 2000 years ago on the left bank, when the Île de la Cité could no longer contain its growing population.
This ancient settlement extended across the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, then called Mons Lucotitus. It included the bustling forum, where the Panthéon stands, as well as administrative buildings, baths (the only remaining baths, now integrated into the Cluny Museum), an amphitheatre (the Arènes de Lutèce), and various shops, workshops, dwellings and sumptuous villas.
However, the inhabitants of this new city were abandoned during the barbarian invasions of the late 3rd century, but did not resettle there once the danger had passed. The left bank remained deserted and ravaged until the founding of the Ste-Geneviève Abbey in the 5th century.
QUARTIER SAINT-VICTOR: However, it was abandoned again when the Normans besieged and devastated Paris in the 9th century. Remnants of Philip-Augustus’s ramparts (12th century) still exist here and there, including those of the Porte Saint-Victor on the east side of the district.
QUARTIER DE LA SORBONNE: The 12th century was marked by a revival of urbanisation in the Quartier Latin, stimulated by the founding of the University of Paris V, with its numerous colleges, including the prestigious Sorbonne.
QUARTIER DU VAL-DE-GRÂCE: Important buildings, such as the Hôpital du Val-de-Grâce were built in the 17th century.
QUARTIER DUJARDIN DES PLANTES: The Jardin des Plantes was laid out on land that had belonged to the Sainte-Geneviève Abbey.
Sadly, the extensive urban renewal works undertaken by Haussmann in the mid-19th century erased a large part of Paris 5th district medieval quarter, profoundly altering the plan. However, the main Gallo-Roman remains miraculously escaped demolition.
Metro stations serving Paris 5th District
Line 10: Cluny-La Sorbonne, Maubert Mutualité, Cardinal Lemoine, Jussieu
Line 7: Jussieu, Place Monge, Censier-Daubenton
RER B: Port Royal, Luxembourg, Cluny-La Sorbonne, St-Michel-Notre-Dame
