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Journalism of Courage
Thirteen Paris landmarks attracted more than one million visitors last year but the Notre Dame Cathedral was top choice and far ahead of the emblematic Eiffel Tower,the city8217;s tourism office said today.
The Gothic cathedral on a little islet on the River Seine drew 13.6 million tourists,followed by Sacre Coeur a basilica perched on a hill in Montmartre overlooking the city 8212; which attracted 10.5 million.
Nearly nine million went to the Louvre and the numbers at one of the world8217;s largest museums increased 5.6 per cent year-on-year,while the Eiffel Tower got 7.1 million visitors,also a 5.6 per cent increase.
The Pompidou Centre,a museum designed in the style of high-tech architecture by famed Italian architect Renzo Piano,was visited by 3.6 million people.
The Musee d8217;Orsay,housing an impressive collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings in a converted railway station,attracted 3.1 million.
8220;Visiting museums and monuments constitutes the main motivation for visiting Paris 65 per cent,8221; said the office in a statement.
8220;With 72.6 million visitors,the numbers going to the 64 Parisian cultural sites surveyed increased by more than 2.5 per cent8221; year-on-year,it said.
8220;Americans and Britons comprised the largest number of visitors8221; to museums,it said,stressing that the numbers of Brazilians,Russians and Chinese had risen substantially.
