Quartier Latin

From Paris Hotels Reviews

The traditional heartland of the Quartier Latin lies between the river and the Montagne-Ste-Geneviève, a hill once crowned by the giant dome of the Pantheon. In medieval times, the name “Latin quarter” was probably a simple description, as this was the area whose inhabitants – clergymen and university scholars for the most part – ordinarily spoke Latin. These days, it’s an ill-defined area, sometimes used as shorthand for the whole central area of the Left Bank below the Ile de la Cité, sometimes, as here, used to mean the 5e arrrondissement, an area defined by the boulevard St-Michel, to the west; the river, to the north; and the great inner ring of boulevards to the south and east.

The students may no longer speak Latin, but it’s still a deeply scholarly area. In the northern half of the arrondissement alone are the famous Sorbonne and Jussieu campuses, plus two of France’s most élite lycées and a cluster of stellar academic institutes. Few students can afford the rents these days, but they still maintain the quarter’s traditions in the cheaper bars, cafés and bistrots, decamping to the Luxembourg gardens, over in the 6e arrondissement on sunny days.

The quarter’s medieval heritage is superbly displayed in the Roman and sixteenth-century buildings housing the Musee National du Moyen Age, worth visiting for the stunning tapestry series, the Lady with the Unicorn, alone. Out towards the eastern end of the 5e, the theme is more Arabic than Latin in the brilliantly designed Institut du Monde Arabe and Paris mosque, while nearby are the flowerbeds, zoo and natural history museum of the leafy Jardin des Plantes. The southern half of the 5e arrondissement is less interesting, though the ancient, romantic thoroughfare of the rue Mouffetard still snakes its way down to the boundary of the 13e arrondissement, at Les Gobelins.