Long before Paris became Paris, it was known as Lutèce.
Did you know that? I didn’t!
It’s funny because I thought I knew a lot about Paris when I moved there in 2022. But as usually happens, there were things I could only learn by living there.
The Arènes de Lutèce were introduced to me by my French teacher, Pierre. He took our class on a tour of a Parisian neighborhood in the Latin Quarter — actually, my neighborhood at the time — in the 5th arrondisement.
The arenas are one of those places you could easily just walk past without noticing, because the entryway is a little stoned arch right off rue Monge.
It turns out the Arènes de Lutèce were discovered by accident.
It was during the massive, citywide renewal project in the 19th century by none other than Georges Eugène Haussmann. Excavators who were digging up the ground to build a tramway in the 1860s when they found the Roman ruins.
Initially, they were at risk of being destroyed altogether, until the author Victor Hugo and a group of intellectuals formed a society to petition for the Arènes to be preserved.
They’re believed to date back to the 1st Century AD. It was constructed as a Gallo-Roman amphitheater that could hold at least 10,000 spectators who would watch gladiators face off in combat.
About a 20-minute walk from the Arènes de Lutèce, off rue du Sommerard in the 5th arrondisement, are the other relics from ancient Paris: the Thermes de Cluny.


Thermes means baths, and it’s believed that it was huge bathing complex that could be accessed by the public for free. It’s likely to date back to the 3rd century. Only one-third of it survived and the ruins are now part of the Musée de Cluny.
The first time I went to the Musée de Cluny was when I was 21 years old. My college French professor and her architect husband took a group of us students to Paris. They showed us some amazing things that are only distant memories today, but one thing that stuck in my mind were the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.


These tapestries are so magical and really beautifully preserved, and they hold a bit of a mystery as to their true history. They’re believed to date back to around 1500.
There are six tapestries in total, with five of them featuring themes of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. The sixth was coined À mon seul désir (to my sole desire) and shows the Lady under a blue tent surrounded by animals, including a unicorn. The tapestries are made of wool and silk and were woven in Flanders in Belgium. The images on them were taken from drawings by a well-known artist at the time, Jean d’Ypres.
The tapestries were discovered in a castle in the 1840s, but they were facing ruin because they weren’t stored well. But even after they were ‘rescued’ they remained at risk of being destroyed by mold. So the curator of the Musée de Cluny bought them in the 1880s to have them restored and protected, and they’ve stayed in the museum ever since.
There are other kinds of fascinating relics and medieval art from the Middle Ages that are on display at the Musée de Cluny. Even the museum’s building, known as the Hôtel de Cluny, dates back to the 15th century.
It’s funny, because when I’ve mentioned this museum to people who know Paris fairly well, they never heard of it! If you’re looking for a respite from the Louvre and Eiffel Tower crowds and want to see some of Paris’ history, I highly recommend a trip to Musée de Cluny. It’s right in the heart of the Latin Quarter, just a short walk from the St. Michel metro and RER regional train stop.
Resources for reading more:
Musee de Cluny website (in English)
Gallo-Roman ruins are all over France. There are some prominent examples, but they're often discovered when digging to build an underground parking lot (Cahors, Rodez...) or some other sort of infrastructure project. Then everything stops as they are studied and inventoried. Although I'm not a big history buff, I find this fascinating.
I did see a pretty impressive Roman amphitheater in Arles last fall! I was surprised because I had no idea about it and knew of Arles mostly for Van Gogh.