Taking its name from the language spoken by university scholars in medieval times, the Quartier Latin is a loosely defined area. The traditional heartland of the quarter lies between the river and the medieval colleges which once huddled on the slopes of the Montagne-Ste-Geneviève, a hill now crowned by the proud Panthéon; these days the "Latin quarter" is shorthand for most of the 5e arrondissement, east of the boulevard St-Michel. Students at the many universities and colleges maintain the area's scholarly and rowdy traditions (politics coming a distant third these days) in the cheaper bars, cafés and bistrots, decamping to the Luxembourg gardens on sunny days. The quarter's medieval heritage is superbly displayed in the Roman and sixteenth-century buildings housing the Musée National du Moyen Âge, worth visiting just for the stunning tapestry series, the Lady with the Unicorn. Out towards the eastern end of the 5e, the theme is more Arabic than Latin in the brilliantly designed Institut du Monde Arabe and Paris mosque. Nearby are the flowerbeds, zoo and natural history museum of the leafy Jardin des Plantes.
Pages in section ‘Quartier Latin’: Place St-Michel, Riverside, Monde Arabe, Cluny, Sorbonne, Pantheon, Val-de-Grace, Contrescarpe, Jardin des Plantes.
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