Ile de la Cité, Lutèce, and the birth of Paris:

Nearly seven thousand years ago, the present-day metropolis known as Paris was home to a small fishing village situated on an island protected by the river Seine. The location was particularly advantageous due to this natural barrier which also provided a supply of fresh water and a year-round link to virtually all regions of France by waterway.

The island of original inhabitation was named the Ile de la Cité and was neighbored by numerous smaller islands, one of which was situated directly to the east and was what would be called the Ile Notre-Dame and later the Ile Saint-Louis. While the Ile de la Cité served as the major residence and political heart of this community, the exact use of the other island during this period remains unclear even today. These two islands combined, however, represent the nucleus of the city and the birth of modern European civilization to come.

By around the year 1000 BCE the village had gained the name of Lutèce and had begun to grow in activity. A Gaulish people called the Parisii (from whom the modern city takes its name) took residence there circa the year 300 BCE and constructed a bridge across the Seine transforming the village into a major mercantile hub which handled the passage of goods from the Mediterranean as well as from Northern and Southwestern France.

Ile Notre-Dame:

This island, eastern neighbor to the Ile de la Cité, first appeared on the historical map in 867 CE when it was officially given by Charles le Chauve, king of France, to Enée, the bishop of Paris.

Soon after, the island was taken out of the possession of the bishop and given to the canons (ecclesiastical dignitaries) of the Notre-Dame chapter of the church.

Apparently, the island hosted a wide range of activities and people. Fishermen, washerwomen, archers, lovers, and those simply out for a stroll were as commonly seen on the Ile Notre-Dame as the cows that grazed upon its pasture.

According to legend, in the 13th century, the king Louis IX, later known as Saint Louis, came often to the Ile Notre-Dame to find tranquility away from the city that, by this time, was already bustling. Although this fact is unconfirmed, it is certain that he performed the knighting ceremony for his own son Philippe le Hardi, the son of the king of Aragon, and 67 other young lords on the island in 1267. In addition, the ceremony in which he received the pope's official blessing to pursue the Eighth Crusade (during which he would die) took place upon the island.

Louis IX personally financed and organized the extravagant Pentecost celebration on the island in 1267. Following Saint Louis' example, Philippe le Bel organized a similar Pentecost celebration on the Ile Notre-Dame in 1313 which he financed by less philanthropic means - taxation.

It was in 1356 that a project related to the protection of the city was undertaken to separate the island into two sections: the Ile Notre-Dame occupying the west two thirds and the Ile aux Vaches (isle of the cows) occupying the eastern third which would be reserved as a cow pasture.