Commissioned by the CNRS in 1975, Paris vers la fin du XIVe siècle is a scholarly reconstruction that unlocks the texture of medieval Paris at a pivotal moment in its history. Its meticulous color-coding and precise symbology distinguish royal, communal, and ecclesiastical domains, while a carefully structured legend anchors every feature in the historical record. What emerges is a city shaped by water, walls, and worship—articulated through topography, street hierarchies, and architectural profiles. Drawing on primary sources to reconcile urban form with documentary evidence, the map captures how Paris evolved through crisis and renewal during the late phases of the Hundred Years’ War, offering collectors and historians alike a vivid, authoritative portrait of Europe’s preeminent medieval metropolis in transition.

At the city’s heart, the Île de la Cité concentrates power and devotion: Notre Dame rises across from the bishop’s precinct at Place de l’Évêché, while the Palais de la Cité—seat of royal justice—anchors the western end. The Grand Châtelet guards river crossings where trade and authority converge, and the Seine’s bifurcating flow organizes the Right and Left Banks into distinct economic and cultural spheres. The map crisply plots the civic quarter around the future Hôtel de Ville on the Place de Grève, signaling the emergence of municipal power. Routes snaking from bridges to marketplaces are rendered with documentary fidelity, revealing how processions, commerce, and governance moved through streets that were already centuries old.

Defensive architecture reads here as a chronicle of anxiety and ambition. The Louvre appears in its original purpose—as a squat, vigilant fortress—while La Bastille anchors the city’s eastern defenses, a late-14th-century instrument of Valois statecraft. The medieval walls and gates, notably Porte St. Jacques and Porte St. Denis, trace successive expansion lines, each ring a fossilized moment of growth under military pressure. Thoroughfares align with older Roman routes, transforming inherited lines of movement into strategic corridors for mustering troops and provisioning the capital. Les Tournelles, mapped as a royal residence complex, and the fortified Temple precinct signal how power diffused across neighborhoods. Beyond the walls, cultivated fields and open ground reveal intentional glacis—clear zones that safeguarded approaches while advertising Paris’s reach into the countryside.

The intellectual and spiritual life of the city is charted with exemplary nuance. The Sorbonne anchors a constellation of colleges on the Left Bank, while venerable abbeys—St. Victor, St-Germain-des-Prés, and St-Martin-des-Champs—command lands, livelihoods, and learning across the map. Parish churches such as Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Jacques punctuate neighborhoods, their dedications mapping social identity and local charity alongside Hôpital des Augustins and other hospices. Pilgrimage currents pulse along Rue Saint-Jacques toward the Porte St. Jacques, a medieval gateway to Compostela’s road, while Le Temple reminds viewers of institutions whose political afterlives extended beyond their orders. The cartographer’s symbols differentiate monastic estates, clerical jurisdictions, and civic holdings, revealing the negotiated geography where theology, scholarship, and urban life intertwined.

An inset of Les Faubourgs widens the lens to show suburban spillover—workshops, gardens, and vineyards edging into the fields that frame Paris’s hard limits. Major streets radiate from bridges and gates like arteries, stitching Roman inheritances to medieval markets and royal projects. This is a map that synthesizes charters, tax rolls, and building accounts into a coherent urban palimpsest, situating the city between Capetian legacy and Valois consolidation, between siege consciousness and economic resurgence. For the connoisseur, it offers more than orientation: it narrates governance reforms after the Étienne Marcel uprising, the policing of gates, and the siting of learning and labor. Scholarly yet evocative, it is a definitive guide to the structures—visible and invisible—that made late medieval Paris.

Places on this map

• Notre Dame Cathedral
• The Louvre
• Palais de la Cité
• La Bastille
• Sorbonne
• Abbey of St. Victor
• St. Germain-des-Prés
• Porte St. Jacques
• Porte St. Denis
• Les Tournelles
• Place de l'Évêché
• Grand Châtelet
• Hôtel de Ville
• Hôtel Barbette
• Abbaye et Prieuré de St Martin-des-Champs
• Eglise de Saint-Sulpice
• Eglise de Saint-Jacques
• Le Temple
• Hôpital des Augustins

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Notre Dame Cathedral
• The Louvre (as a fortress)
• Palais de la Cité
• The Seine River
• Various abbeys, including the Abbey of St. Victor
• Fortifications, such as medieval walls and gates like Porte St. Jacques and Porte St. Denis
• Major streets and thoroughfares with connections to Roman routes
• Areas identified for religious institutions like the Sorbonne and multiple churches
• Les Faubourgs inset showing suburban areas
• Cultivated fields and open spaces marking city limits

Historical and design context

• Creation Date: 1975
• Mapmaker/Publisher: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), a French governmental research organization known for advancing scientific and historical studies
• Detailed depiction of topography, architecture, and urban organization of medieval Paris
• Highlights the relationship of urban structures to historic political and cultural shifts
• Indicates significant royal, communal, and religious buildings, as well as defensive architecture
• Meticulous, detailed coloring and symbol usage for various structures
• Incorporates various legends and references to establish historical accuracy
• Reflects the architectural and urban evolution of Paris during a transformative period
• Serves as a historical resource based on comprehensive research and primary source material

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

Please note: the labels on this map are hard to read if you order a map that is 16in (40cm) or smaller. The map is still very attractive, but if you would like to read the map easily, please buy a larger size.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

The fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.

If you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the best old maps to see if something else catches your eye.

Please contact me to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.

This would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.

This map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.

For most orders, delivery time is about 3 working days. Personalised and customised products take longer, as I have to do the personalisation and send it to you for approval, which usually takes 1 or 2 days.

Please note that very large framed orders usually take longer to make and deliver. 

If you need your order to arrive by a certain date, please contact me before you order so that we can find the best way of making sure you get your order in time.

I print and frame maps and artwork in 23 countries around the world. This means your order will be made locally, which cuts down on delivery time and ensures that it won't be damaged during delivery. You'll never pay customs or import duty, and we'll put less CO2 into the air.

All of my maps and art prints are well packaged and sent in a rugged tube if unframed, or surrounded by foam if framed.

I try to send out all orders within 1 or 2 days of receiving your order, though some products (like face masks, mugs and tote bags) can take longer to make.

If you select Express Delivery at checkout your order we will prioritise your order and send it out by 1-day courier (Fedex, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce).

Next Day delivery is also available in some countries (US, UK, Singapore, UAE) but please try to order early in the day so that we can get it sent out on time.

Read my full delivery and local production guide

My standard frame is a gallery style black ash hardwood frame. It is simple and quite modern looking. My standard frame is around 20mm (0.8in) wide.

I use super-clear acrylic (perspex/acrylite) for the frame glass. It's lighter and safer than glass - and it looks better, as the reflectivity is lower.

Six standard frame colours are available for free (black, dark brown, dark grey, oak, white and antique gold). Custom framing and mounting/matting is available if you're looking for something else.

Most maps, art and illustrations are also available as a framed canvas. We use matte (not shiny) cotton canvas, stretch it over a sustainably sourced box wood frame, and then 'float' the piece within a wood frame. The end result is quite beautiful, and there's no glazing to get in the way.

All frames are provided "ready to hang", with either a string or brackets on the back. Very large frames will have heavy duty hanging plates and/or a mounting baton. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

See some examples of my framed maps and framed canvas maps.

Alternatively, I can also supply old maps and artwork on canvas, foam board, cotton rag and other materials.

If you want to frame your map or artwork yourself, please read my size guide first.

My maps are extremely high quality reproductions of original maps.

I source original, rare maps from libraries, auction houses and private collections around the world, restore them at my London workshop, and then use specialist giclée inks and printers to create beautiful maps that look even better than the original.

My maps are printed on acid-free archival matte (not glossy) paper that feels very high quality and almost like card. In technical terms the paper weight/thickness is 10mil/200gsm. It's perfect for framing.

I print with Epson ultrachrome giclée UV fade resistant pigment inks - some of the best inks you can find.

I can also make maps on canvas, cotton rag and other exotic materials.

Learn more about The Unique Maps Co.

Map personalisation

If you're looking for the perfect anniversary or housewarming gift, I can personalise your map to make it truly unique. For example, I can add a short message, or highlight an important location, or add your family's coat of arms.

The options are almost infinite. Please see my map personalisation page for some wonderful examples of what's possible.

To order a personalised map, select "personalise your map" before adding it to your basket.

Get in touch if you're looking for more complex customisations and personalisations.

Map ageing

I have been asked hundreds of times over the years by customers if they could buy a map that looks even older.

Well, now you can, by selecting Aged before you add a map to your basket.

All the product photos you see on this page show the map in its Original form. This is what the map looks like today.

If you select Aged, I will age your map by hand, using a special and unique process developed through years of studying old maps, talking to researchers to understand the chemistry of aging paper, and of course... lots of practice!

If you're unsure, stick to the Original colour of the map. If you want something a bit darker and older looking, go for Aged.

See some amazing examples of Aged maps.

If you are not happy with your order for any reason, contact me and I'll get it fixed ASAP, free of charge. Please see my returns and refund policy for more information.

I am very confident you will like your restored map or art print. I have been doing this since 1984. I'm a 5-star Etsy seller. I have sold tens of thousands of maps and art prints and have over 5,000 real 5-star reviews. My work has been featured in interior design magazines, on the BBC, and on the walls of dozens of 5-star hotels.

I use a unique process to restore maps and artwork that is massively time consuming and labour intensive. Hunting down the original maps and illustrations can take months. I use state of the art and eye-wateringly expensive technology to scan and restore them. As a result, I guarantee my maps and art prints are a cut above the rest. I stand by my products and will always make sure you're 100% happy with what you receive.

Almost all of my maps and art prints look amazing at large sizes (200cm, 6.5ft+) and I can frame and deliver them to you as well, via special oversized courier. Contact me to discuss your specific needs.