The Ile de la Cité is the historical and geographical center of Paris. Here, on the little island protected by two arms of the Seine, a Celtic tribe, the Parisii, established a settlement in the third century B.C. Here too the Romans built the Gallo-Roman city of Lutetia, and here the inhabitants of the city sought refuge during raids by Germanic tribes, Norsemen and Huns.
It was only in the High Middle Ages that the city was able to establish a durable presence on the two banks of the Seine and a center of power and authority. From the sixth to the 14th century the kings of France resided on the island, on which were the secular palace and its religious counterpart, Notre-Dame, the "Cathedral of France". When the royal residence was transferred elsewhere the aspect of the Ile de la Cité changed, since it was no longer necessary to have spacious streets and squares for the festivities of the court.
There now grew up a dense huddle of narrow lanes and closely packed houses in the shadow of the Gothic towers of Notre-Dame. In the 19th century the aspect of the Cité was again radically altered by Baron Haussmann. In a massive campaign of clearance and redevelopment which involved the rehousing of more than 25,000 people space was cleared for the broad avenues running north-south through Paris, the Préfecture de Police, the Tribunal de Commerce, the extension to the Palais de Justice and the rebuilding of the Hôtel Dieu, and an unobstructed view of Notre Dame was opened up on all sides. With only a few exceptions the historic core of the city was transformed, so that the Cité is no longer the "old town" of Paris in the sense in which that term is usually employed.
The barrack-like Hôtel-Dieu in Paris, a hospital, was built in 1868-78 on the site of a seventh century convent whose nuns were dedicated to the care of the sick and the needy. The Hôtel Dieu can thus claim to be one of the oldest hospitals in Europe.
Address: Hôtel-Dieu, 1 place du parvis de Notre Dame, F-75004 Paris, France
Hours:
April 1 to October 31: 10am-6pm
November 1 to March 31: 10am-5pm
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), May Day / Labor Day (May 1), All Saints' Day - Christian (November 1), Remembrance Day / 1918 Armistice Day (November 11), Christmas - Christian (December 25)
The police museum in Paris is a criminal history museum.
Address: Musée de la Préfecture de Police, 1 bis, rue des Carmes, F-75005 Paris, France
Hours:
9am-5pm; Sat:10am-5pm; Closed: Sun
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), 1945 Victory Day (May 8), May Day / Labor Day (May 1), Bastille Day - France (July 14), Assumption Day - Christian (August 15), All Saints' Day - Christian (November 1), Remembrance Day / 1918 Armistice Day (November 11), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Pentecost Monday (Whit Monday) - Christian, Ascension Thursday - Christian
Tips: Group visit reserves 21 days in advance.
Documentation available in foreign languages.
Last admission at 4:30 p.m.
Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
This monument, at the southeastern tip of the island Ile de la Cité, commemorates those who were deported to German concentration camps during the Second World War.
Address: Mémorial de la Déportation, Square de l'lle de France, F-75004 Paris, France
The little garden at the northwestern tip of the island commemorates Henri IV, who was known as the Vert Galant ("Lusty Gallant"). There is an equestrian statue of the king on the terrace above the garden, a place frequented by lovers and street entertainers.
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Ile-de-la-Cité in Paris.
View to Ile de Cite in Paris.
Architecture of Ile de la Cite, Paris.
Pont Neuf and Ile de la Cite in Paris.
A night view of the west front of Notre Dame in Paris.
