Virtual Visit: Paris World's Fairs

When we left off, we were looking at the way that Emperor Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine, had reconfigured Paris in the second half of the 19th century to transform the city from a series of medieval enclaves into a modern, open and easily-traversable metropolis. But the Haussmannization of Paris was not the only thing that reconfigured the city's urban plan in this period.

Today, we're going to examine a series of events that took place in the second half of the 19th century that brought people from around the world to Paris and had an enduring impact on the shape of the city and its monuments: the Expositions Universelles, or World's Fairs. These events were the pinnacle of modernity, and were intended to showcase Paris' central place in industry, agriculture and the arts.

The usual reminder: the primary venue for this content is the stories feature on my Instagram page. All of the virtual visits will be saved in my story highlights. The purpose of the blog posts is to allow a greater audience (especially those without social media accounts) to benefit from the same content.

With that in mind, let's travel back in time and explore the multiple iterations of the Worlds Fairs and their impact on modern Paris!