Why Paris is called the 'City of Light'

With the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, in full swing, some may have wondered why the extravagant city has been nicknamed the “City of Light,” and not the “City of Lights.”

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, in full swing, some may have wondered why the extravagant city has been nicknamed the “City of Light,” and not the “City of Lights.”

The answer is simple and can be found in the city’s history.

Paris was named the “City of Light,” or “Ville Lumière” in French, during the Enlightenment era—a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries.

According to Britannica, the Enlightenment era focused on ideas relating to God, reason, nature and humanity that were then used to create revolutionary developments in art, philosophy and politics.

The city’s role in the arts and sciences led to its system of street lighting, which used gas lighting to illuminate its streets. The system, considered to be early and extensive for its time, resulted in Paris becoming known as the City of Light.

By the 1930s, electric lighting technology was at its peak, and the Eiffel Tower was first illuminated.