The story of La Petite France
In the Middle Ages this was the quarter of tanners, millers and fishermen, who used the channels of the river Ill for their work. The tall half-timbered houses have open lofts under the roof, where hides were hung to dry.
The name "Petite France" comes from a 16th-century hospital here that treated soldiers suffering from syphilis, then called "the French disease". Today it is the most picturesque part of the Grande Île, Strasbourg's historic centre, which in 1988 became the first entire city centre in France listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
