My city; Strasbourg!!!!

For the nexts posts, I'll try to show the place where I was born and where I live at the present time; the city of Strabourg!!!!!
I'll order them from the oldiest places to the newest! But let me tell you a bit about its history.

The first known occupation of this place was in the year 12 BC when the Romans established a military outpost of their empire and named it Argentoratom. This settelment belonged to the Germania Superior Roman province. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the town was known under the new name of Stratisburgum, and its political and economical influence started to grow . The town is located in the middle of the most important northen european trade roads.
From the 4th century the town was the seat of the archbishopric of Strasbourg. In the 5th century the town was occupied successively by Alemanni, Huns and Franks, and the french name of Strasbourg appeared in the 9th century. It became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century, but the city was declared as an imperial free city exempted of tax in 1262 by the king after a battle led and won by the citizens. They broke free from the ruling bishops. After this event it became an asylum for many artists, free thinkers, reformists, and it helped the city to grow culturaly. But It made many profits on the duties levied on numerous commodities, so the city obtain further indepedance and power.
Around 1430 Johannes Gutemberg, the inventor of the printing press, moved in Strasbourg........ And a plaza has his name with his statue in the middle! The french hymn "La Marseillaise" was written and composed by CJ Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg on April 1792... Funny isn't?
During the french revolution, Strasbourg lost its free city status, and the Jacobins revolutionary ruled the city. Its highest monument; the cathedrale was threatened of tearing its spire down, on the grounds that it hurt the principle of equality. The tower was saved, however, when citizens of Strasbourg proposed to crown it with a giant phrygian cap (the revolutionary cap). So at that time Strasbourg was a part of the french republic...
After the 1871 war between the German empire and Napoleon III it became part of the German empire. Many buildings and monuments of the city were destroyed after a six week siege. The city only returned to France shortly after World War I in 1918.
During the 30's the province was rebuilt and the Maginot Line against a possible invasion from Germany was built. World War II again caused mass destruction in the city and the aggressive occupation by the Germans shaped the city once more with its germanization policy. After the end of World War II Strasbourg regained its status as the crossroads of Europe when in 1949 it was chosen as the headquarters of the Council of Europe. Since 1979 it has been the seat of the 15-member European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights since 1994.

Oufffff thanks Google & Wikipedia for some information.... Now with this "short" history you can have a small idea about my city and my province. We have both French and German roots and not just one of the both. Nowadays some Parisians still think that Alsace is in Germany... What have they learned at school???
There's a lot of traces and influences from all the different occupations. The Romans brought wine, Gutemberg the books, and all the others built lots of houses, churches, monuments,.....




Agrandir le plan


So let me show you some pictures taken in the center. You can see on each of them the cathedrale of Strasbourg which was the world's tallest building from 1625 to 1847 at 142 m.

From the Rue Mercière ("Sewing-related's street")

From the quai des bateliers (boatmen's quay)

Oups it's time to go for me.... Dinner time!!!!