THE TOPOGRAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF THE 
CITY OF PARIS 1 
By Edward R. Smith, B.A. 
Reference Librarian , Avery Architectural Library , Columbia University 
III.—'The Renaissance Period 
T HE Renaissance period in France, which 
may be dated from the invasion of Italy 
by Charles VII l. in 1494 to the end of the 
reign of Henry IV. in 1610, is marked by a 
definite style of architecture, a charming hy¬ 
brid begotten by classic conventions upon 
the traditions of medieval work. It creates 
a definite impression in the mind of an 
architectural student, but, so far as the topo¬ 
graphical development of cities is concerned, 
the Renaissance does not differ materially 
from the medieval epoch preceding. More¬ 
over the length of the period, not much more 
than a century, is brief compared with the ten 
centuries of medieval life. During the six¬ 
teenth century that portion of France which 
1 Continued from the September number of House and Garden. 
has its center in Paris was so much disturbed 
by religious contention and civil war that 
progress was not rapid in any direction, and 
civic conditions remained much as they were 
in medieval times. The Renaissance period 
in Paris forms a point of rest before those 
changes begin which result, finally, in modern 
civic construction, and is a convenient station 
from which the outlook is both backward 
and forward. 
OLD PARIS MAPS 
At this point information about the city 
becomes more abundant. Until the reign 
of Francis 1 . there are no contemporary 
maps of Paris. The plans which we have 
printed are constructed on topographical data 
THE PLAN OF SEBASTIEN MUNSTER- circa I 53© 
I9O 
