A view along the river Ill in Strasbourgs’ quarter La Petite France. Once the tanners’ quarter of the city it is a major tourist attraction today and also part of the UNESCO world heritage site in Strasbourgs’ old town. The Petite France quarter is known for its half-timbered buildings from the 15th and 16th century. Here we can see the canalscape opposite the Quai de la Petite France. The buildings at the left edge are standing on Quai de la Bruche.
The quarter is originally not exactly named for its french flair, but because of an old hospital that was once situated in the quarter. It cared for syphilis patients – at that time it was called the Franzosenkrankheit (“French disease”) in german and Strasbourg was a mainly german city then. The river Ill is split up into several arms and canals within Strasbourg, a number of which run through the Petite France quarter and once served the mills of the city.
This cityscape of Strasbourg was presented (together with other previews from the city) in week 14 of our 101 weeks 101 cities of europe project.
