Most visitors know the Grande Mosquée de Paris for its tranquil courtyards, fragrant mint tea and beautiful mosaics. Few realise they are stepping into a place where colonial politics, religious diplomacy, wartime resistance and forgotten acts of courage all intersect.

This episode begins with a quiet afternoon in one of my favourite corners of Paris before peeling back layer after layer of history. From the world’s oldest university in Morocco to the French Resistance during the Second World War, this is the story of a building whose past is every bit as remarkable as its architecture.

Sometimes the quietest places have the loudest histories.