Archaeologists believe they have found the origins of Paris at Notre-Dame

During the summer, a wall about 20 meters long was found during an extensive archaeological excavation under the Hôtel-Dieu – a hospital located next to the city's famous Notre-Dame cathedral on the island of Île de la Cité, writes Le Monde.

After the stone and wood wall, which was found at a depth of four meters under the hospital, has now been analyzed, a group of archaeologists has determined that it probably belonged to the outer fortification of the city of Lutetia - which is the ancient name of Paris.

The find is of great importance as the researchers were previously unable to determine with certainty exactly where the city's inhabitants – the Gallic-Celtic tribe the Parisians – lived from the middle of the 2nd century BC until the Roman era. According to the prevailing theory, they put down their piles on the Île de la Cité, but previous excavations on the island have not resulted in any finds of either fortifications or urban settlements.

A competing theory claims instead that Paris' roots are in Nanterre, a suburb west of the French capital.

The fact that researchers now believe they have found the solution to the mystery surrounding the origins of Paris is attracting a lot of attention in France - not least in the French capital.

Paris mayor Emmanuel Grégoire believes that the find could be decisive for the writing of history.

- It is dizzying to discover the place where Paris probably originated, he told Le Monde during a visit to the excavation on Île de la Cité earlier this week.

Even from the country's Ministry of Culture, the importance of the discovery is underlined.

"It could finally provide an answer to one of the oldest questions in the history of Paris by establishing a link - for the first time in such a direct way - between present-day Paris, the ancient city of Lutetia and the Gallic city of the same name, as described by Caesar," they write in a press release, according to the French TV channel TF1.

Lutetia and its inhabitants the Parisians are mentioned for the first time in Julius Caesar's 2000-year-old writings, where he describes, among other things, an island connected by bridges and situated in a bend of the river Seine.

The wall found during the excavations on the Île de la Cité also shows traces of fire, which is consistent with Caesar's description of how the Parisians, before a decisive battle against the Romans, set fire to their own city.

The city was captured in 52 BC by the Romans under the leadership of Julius Caesar, who then renamed the city Lutetia Parisiorum.