Paris Ile de la Cité
| The Island of the City is the oldest part of Paris, and has been inhabited since the Stone Age. The Kings of France lived on the Island until the sixteenth Century. At that time there were several islands where now there are two. In the seventeenth century the Ile de la Cite was joined to a cluster of marshy islands to form the Place Dauphine, and the Pont-Neuf – it means New Bridge, although it’s the oldest bridge still standing – was thrown across the river with its centre on the island. Later another group of islands to the East was made into the Ile St. Louis, and the Ile Louviers was joined to the Right (North) Bank of the river. |