Walking route on the Ile de la Cité

Start: Metro Pont-Neuf
End: Metro Maubert-Mutualité
Distance: 2.8 km
Duration: 1 – 1.5 hours
Last update: December 1, 2022

Overview

Route information

1. From the metro station, walk towards the Seine and cross the first part of the Pont Neuf.

The Pont Neuf is the oldest bridge in Paris, built in 1603. You are now on the Ile de la Cité, where the people of the Parisii built the first settlements of Paris more than 2000 years ago. On the right of the square du Vert Galant is a statue of King Henri IV (1553-1610). ‘Vert galant’ means something like womanizer, and the king was given that nickname because of his extramarital affairs that often got him into trouble.

To the right of the statue is a small park with weeping willows and benches that offers a beautiful view of the Seine on two sides.

2. Opposite the square du Vert Galant, go into the rue H. Robert and continue until you reach the place Dauphine.

This is a quiet 17th century square in a triangular shape with chestnut trees and benches in the middle. The chestnut trees were cut down in 2009 because they were affected by chestnut blight, but there are now 25 new red chestnuts. The square was built on the orders of Henri IV. There are still some original facades (nos. 14 and 26), the rest are of a later date.

3. Turn left into rue de Harlay and then right onto quai de l’Horloge.

Here you can see the medieval building of the Conciergerie along the Seine, part of the Palais de la Cité where the French kings lived until the 14th century. Later it became a famous prison where thousands of prisoners (including Robespierre and Marie-Antoinette) waited their turn for the guillotine during the French Revolution. The building has four towers, the tower on the corner is the Tour de l’Horloge, the first clock in Paris in 1370. The entrance to the Conciergerie is on the boulevard du Palais.

4. Turn right onto the boulevard du Palais.

Here, behind the beautiful gold-coloured gate, lies the Palais de Justice, the building complex of the French court of justice. This building was also part of the Palais de la Cité, but was transferred to the court of justice in 1431. The sessions are in principle free to visit.

Past the gold-coloured gate of the Palais de Justice, you come to the Sainte Chapelle. This is a beautiful Gothic chapel from 1248 with famous stained glass windows. From the street, the pointed tower protrudes just above the surrounding buildings, but in the past the chapel stood in a spacious courtyard.

5. Walk opposite the gold-coloured gate into the rue de Lutèce.

The Cité metro station on your left still has an original Art Nouveau entrance by Hector Guimard. Behind it is the flower market (bird market on Sundays) that continues onto the quai de la Corse.

6. Walk down the rue de Lutèce and turn right into the rue de la Cité. Continue until you reach the square.

You are now standing on the place du Parvis Notre Dame in front of the cathedral. On the left is a hospital, the Hotel Dieu, which was originally on the south side of the square but was moved to the north side in the 19th century. This created a beautiful square with a view of the Notre Dame de Paris, the most famous Gothic church in the world, built between 1163 and 1330. On the right of the square is a statue of Charlemagne on horseback. In the middle of the square is the zero point for the distances from Paris to other places in France. In the Crypte Archéologique you can still see Roman remains of the city.

7. Walk through the park to the right of the church.

From this side you can see the beautiful side of the cathedral with the buttresses that carry a large part of the weight of the church. At the same time you can look out over the Seine and the left bank.

Walk back to the place du Parvis Notre Dame and turn right into the rue d’Arcole. Take the first street on the right, the rue Chanoinesse, then the first on the left, the rue de la Colombe. Turn right into the rue des Ursins and left into the rue des Chantres, then right onto the quai des Fleurs.

These are the original medieval streets of the Ile de la Cité. The entire island used to consist of such streets, but in the 19th century many streets and houses were demolished to create space, among other things for the increasingly busy traffic.

8. Walk down the quai des Fleurs, which turns into the quai de l’Archevêché.

On your left, on the square de l’Ile de France, is the Mémorial de la Déportation, a monument commemorating the 200,000 French people who were deported to a concentration camp during the Second World War. It consists of an underground crypt with urns of the victims. The walls are decorated with 200,000 pieces of quartz.

9. Cross the Pont de l’Archevêché and turn right onto the quai de Montebello.

You will walk along the Pont au Double, a previous version of which was used as an extension to the Hôtel Dieu hospital, which was then on this side of the Ile de la Cité.

Just after the Pont au Double, on the left is a small park on the square René Viviani. From this old park you have a beautiful view of the south side of the Notre Dame. The church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre borders the park on the south side. On that side there is also a dilapidated acacia from 1601, one of the oldest trees in Paris. It is supported by concrete beams. In the middle of the park is a triangular bronze fountain from 1995 by Georges Jeanclos.

10. Leave the park via the rue Lagrange. Continue along this street until you reach the place Maubert and the Maubert-Mutualité metro station.