Hello, Paris!

Paris is one of the most famous cities in the world. It has wide streets, old bridges, a giant iron tower and a cathedral full of stone creatures. But Paris wasn't always big. Long, long ago, it was just a tiny village on an island.

This is Lea, who lives in Paris, and her friend Gus, a little stone gargoyle. Gus has been watching Paris grow for a very long time. Let's travel back in time with them!

👆 Tap the glowing circles. Tap 📖 Read to me to hear the story. Press Next ▶ to keep reading, or jump straight to the game.

More than 2,000 years ago, a group of people called the Parisii lived by a big river, the Seine. They fished, traded, and sailed boats up and down the water. Later, the Romans came and built a town there called Lutetia.

Paris got its name from the Parisii! And the river made Paris busy and rich. That's why there's a boat on Paris's shield, its coat of arms, even today. 👆 Tap the shield.

In 1163, the people of Paris started building a giant cathedral called Notre-Dame. There were no trucks and no electric cranes. Workers carved every stone by hand and lifted them with wooden wheels. It took almost 200 years to finish!

Inside, the ceiling is made of heavy stone arches called a vault. It is so heavy that it pushes the tops of the tall walls outward. So the builders added stone arms outside, called flying buttresses. They push back and hold the walls up. 👆 Tap the builders' tricks.

Around 1190, a king built a strong castle by the river to guard Paris. It was called the Louvre. Later kings turned it into a huge, fancy palace.

Then, in 1793, the palace became a museum for everyone. Now it's one of the biggest art museums in the world! 👆 Tap Long ago and Today.

Long ago, France had kings and queens who made all the rules. In 1789, many people in Paris were hungry, and they felt nobody was listening to them. On July 14, a big crowd took over an old castle-prison called the Bastille. Big changes began.

France chose three big ideas: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. That means being free, being fair to everyone, and caring for each other. People in Paris still speak up when they think something isn't fair. The best tools are words, listening and voting. 👆 Tap the sky!

About 170 years ago, old Paris was crowded and dark. The streets were tiny and twisty, and dirty water ran right down the middle. So from 1853 to 1870, a man named Haussmann gave Paris a giant makeover.

Workers built long, wide streets called boulevards, parks, and rows of creamy stone buildings. And under the streets, they built huge sewer tunnels to carry dirty water away. 👆 Peek underground!

In 1889, Paris threw a giant world's fair. For it, Gustave Eiffel's company built the tallest tower in the world, out of 18,038 iron pieces and about 2.5 million rivets! Many artists said it was ugly, and it was only supposed to stay for 20 years.

But the tower was great for sending radio messages, so it was saved. Now people love it! On a hot, sunny day, the iron on the sunny side stretches a tiny bit, and the top leans away from the sun. 👆 Slide the sun.

In 1900, Paris opened its first underground train, the Métro. Now trains zoom through tunnels under the whole city, with more than 300 stations.

Look at the entrance! An architect named Hector Guimard made it out of green iron that curls like plants and flowers. 👆 Tap the lamps, and listen for the train!

On April 15, 2019, a fire burned Notre-Dame's old wooden roof, and its tall spire fell. People all over the world felt very sad. But the people of Paris said: "We will build it again."

Carpenters chose big oak trees and shaped the beams by hand with axes, the way builders did 800 years ago. Stonemasons, glassmakers and painters helped too. In December 2024, Notre-Dame opened again, with a new spire and a golden rooster on top! 👆 Help rebuild!

How to play Cathedral Builders!

1. Stack the walls: the crane swings a stone. Tap to drop it right on top!
2. Hold up the vault: the heavy stone ceiling pushes the walls out. Drag a flying buttress to where the red push arrow is.
3. Storm! Drag gargoyles to the gutters so the rain shoots far away and the walls stay dry.

You Know Paris!

A tiny island village became a giant city. People built a cathedral, a castle that became a museum, wide boulevards, an iron tower and trains under the ground. And when something broke, they built it again.