Why is Paris called the City of Lights?

This name was from way back when most of the world were still dark. Now a day it's Las Vegas that have the title "The City Of Neon".

Because in paris there TONS of lights and they all sparkly from the fllors and the trees are all light up its gorgeous!

I have heard her called a lot of things but I never heard her called that.

The Eiffel Tower - lights up at night.

in the end of 19th century and beginning of the 20th, there was no electricity in the cities... but in paris.
for people who came in paris, it was just like you coming in las vegas today.

it was due to the creation of the public lightning by gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie in the 17th century.

Nicolas de la Reynie was State conseillor in 1680.

He had a global strategy of the criminality and organised the police in Paris under the 'Ancien Regime'.

He was the first general lieutnant of police, from march 1667 to january 1697.

He had some specific missions, as the fight against criminality, against fires and against overfleeding, the economical police etc...

Thanks to his strong reformes, Paris became the cleanest city of Europe of this period (financed by the 'sludge and lanterns' tax)

His mission was to improve the safety of the streets, to implement the first rules of circulation and parking, to prepare the paving of the streets and the water conveyance.

When the Romans invaded what is now France (in 52 BC, I think), they found a tribe of people called the Parisi living on the islands in the middle of the Seine (today known as Ile de la Cite and Ile St Louis). Their city was called Lutece, which means Light. I'm sure the more modern reasons are valid too, but I believe this is the original reason. Logically, Paris got its name from that original tribe.