Île de la Cité

The Île de la Cité (French: [il d(ə) la site]; English: City Island, lit. "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans 22.5 hectares (56 acres) of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of the area governor for the Roman Empire. In 508, Clovis I, the first King of the Franks, established his palace on the island. In the 12th century, it extended its importance as a religious centre, the home of Notre-Dame cathedral, and the castle chapel of Sainte-Chapelle, as well as the city hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu (possibly the oldest continuously operating hospital in the world). It is also the site of the city's oldest surviving bridge, the Pont Neuf.

Even with the departure of the French kings to the Louvre Palace across the right bank, and then to the Palace of Versailles, the island remained a centre of administration and law courts. In 1302, it hosted the first meeting of the Parlement of Paris in the old royal palace and was later the site of the trials of aristocrats during the French Revolution. Today, in addition to the prominent cathedral and other shrines, it is the home of the Préfecture de Police, the Palais de Justice, and the Tribunal de commerce de Paris. The Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation, a memorial to the 200,000 people deported from Vichy France to Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, is located at the eastern end of the island. As of 2016, the island's population was 891.