EVOLUTION OF PARIS | 3D CITY TIMELAPSE (250 BC–NOW)

More than 2,000 years of Paris, rebuilt in 3D year by year from real maps and city data: from a Celtic village on the Seine to a city of 2 million. A Viking siege. A fortress torn down stone by stone. Boulevards cut through the medieval city. Notre-Dame burns and rises again. 🏕️ PARISII AND ROMAN LUTETIA (before 52 BC – 3rd century AD) The Parisii, a Celtic people, live along the Seine. In 52 BC, facing Rome, they burn their town and bridges. Roman Lutetia gets a forum, an arena and baths; later a wall rings the island and Lutetia gradually becomes Paris. ⚔️ FRANKS AND VIKINGS (845 – 885) Vikings loot Paris in 845; in 885 hundreds of ships besiege it for many months. ⛪ MEDIEVAL PARIS (1100s – 1429) Notre-Dame rises. Philip II rings Paris with a wall and builds the Louvre as its fortress (1190–1215). The Sainte-Chapelle is consecrated in 1248, the Bastille guards the eastern gate, and in 1429 Joan of Arc is wounded attacking English-held Paris. 👑 ROYAL PARIS (1590 – 1784) Henri IV besieges the starving city (1590). The Pont Neuf (1607), the first bridge without houses; the Place des Vosges (1612); the Île Saint-Louis (1600s); the dome of Les Invalides (1706); the Farmers-General customs wall (1784). 🔥 REVOLUTION AND EMPIRE (1789 – 1836) Parisians storm the Bastille on 14 July 1789 and tear it down stone by stone. Allied armies take Paris in 1814. The Arc de Triomphe opens in 1836, and an obelisk from Luxor rises on the Place de la Concorde. 🏗️ HAUSSMANN'S PARIS (1853 – 1870) Baron Haussmann cuts broad boulevards through old Paris. Notre-Dame gets a new 96 m spire (1859), Paris grows to 20 arrondissements (1860), and in 1870 the Prussians besiege the city. 🗼 COMMUNE AND BELLE ÉPOQUE (1871 – 1914) Fires gut the Tuileries and the Hôtel de Ville (1871). The Palais Garnier opens (1875), the 300 m Eiffel Tower is finished (1889), the 1900 World's Fair brings the Grand Palais and the first Métro line, the Seine floods the streets (1910) and the Sacré-Cœur is finished (1914). 🎖️ TWO WORLD WARS (1918 – 1944) A German gun shells Paris from 120 km away (1918). Paris falls without a fight in June 1940 as Parisians watch the German column pass. In August 1944 the city is liberated: German troops surrender or flee while crowds wave French, American and British flags. 🏙️ MODERN PARIS (1973 – 1989) The Tour Montparnasse (1973) and the Louvre pyramid (1989). ✨ NOTRE-DAME REBORN (2019 – 2026) Fire brings down Notre-Dame's roof and spire on 15 April 2019. The Olympics open on the Seine in July 2024, and Notre-Dame reopens in December 2024. 📌 ABOUT THIS RECONSTRUCTION An illustrative 3D reconstruction, not archival footage. Buildings and dates: APUR, cadastre, OpenStreetMap; trees: Ville de Paris. Terrain: IGN. Old Paris, walls and the 1910 flood: ALPAGE (Vasserot atlas 1810–1836); Turgot and Verniquet maps as references. Our own 3D engine. Landmarks built in code; AI-generated reference sheets used as visual guides only. Dates of ordinary buildings are estimated where records are missing; landmarks are simplified. 1940–1944 is shown as history. No Nazi symbols: white flags mark the 1940 open city; French, American and British flags in the crowds mark the 1944 liberation. 🙏 CREDITS Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL): https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright APUR (Atelier parisien d'urbanisme), Emprise bâtie (ODbL) Ville de Paris, Les arbres (ODbL) IGN RGE ALTI (Licence Ouverte 2.0) Etalab / DGFiP cadastre (Licence Ouverte 2.0) © ALPAGE (L. Costa, A.-L. Bethe, H. Noizet, D. Gherdevich, N. Faucherre, P. Rouet, É. Lallau, L. Mirlou), Stanford Digital Repository (ODbL) Plans de Turgot (1734–1739) and Verniquet (1790), public domain Population: INSEE and historical estimates Which city should we rebuild next? Tell us in the comments. Subscribe to Cornerstone Timelapse for more cities, from first stone to skyline. #paris #timelapse #3d #evolution #city #history #animation #parishistory