Paris

The Sorbonne

We are facing the symbol of the Latin Quarter. Latin Quarter, because at the time of middle age, in the thirteenth century, several colleges of theology were created and students from all over the world came to Paris. The teaching was in Latin, and quickly the Parisians pointed to the place as the neighborhood of those speaking Latin, the Latin Quarter.

Robert de la Sorbonne, the confessor of Louis IX, begins another school that will grow and in 1253 will become the first university in France and one of the oldest in the world. Rapidly the reputation is global and had among its corridors illustrious as Dante Alighieri, Saint Thomas Aquinas or Jean-Paul Sartre.

The current building is due to Cardinal Richelieu, the great important character of the government during the reign of Louis XIII, who knew that the University should be in a place equivalent to his name to continue radiating French culture.

In current history, the place you see today was the center of the episodes of the May student movement of '68. Students take to the streets for two months demanding fairer conditions for workers, a greater liberation of society and leave the conservatism of the current president, Charles de Gaulle. Trenches and clashes with the police, slogans that marked a time and that led to the departure of Gaulle and inspire other student movements in the world.