Crypte Archéologique de l'İle de la Cité

The Crypte Archéologique rests beneath the pavement of the Parvis de Notre-Dame, marked by a simple glass entrance. It holds the stone remnants of Lutetia, the Roman predecessor to modern Paris. During excavations in the nineteen sixties, engineers uncovered these street levels, wharf foundations, and public bath ruins. They found a workshop where a third-century blacksmith once hammered iron tools. When the river flooded, the water reclaimed these floors, leaving the heavy foundation walls to sink into the silt until researchers arrived.