Île Saint-Louis is a compact island of seventeenth-century streets and residences in the Seine. Its present shape emerged when two smaller islands were joined, then developed through a planned urban project that gave it a distinctive architectural unity.
Quick facts
The island was previously divided into Île Notre-Dame and Île aux Vaches.
The 1614 redevelopment joined the two islands by filling their channel; Paris Musées dates completion of the main works to around 1655.
The island has been called Île Saint-Louis since 1725.
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The Île Saint-Louis looks like a compact, finished piece of Paris: a main street, narrow side streets, rows of stone façades and quays on every side. But its neat outline is the result of a seventeenth-century building project. Two low islands, once separated by a channel, were joined by filling the waterway and laying out streets, quays and bridges.
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