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Grande Île, Strasbourg

Geography of StrasbourgLandforms of Bas-RhinRiver islands of FranceTourist attractions in StrasbourgWorld Heritage Sites in France
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The Grande Île (German: Große Insel) is an island that lies at the historic centre of the city of Strasbourg in France. Its name means "Large Island", and derives from the fact that it is surrounded on one side by the main channel of the Ill River and on the other side by the Canal du Faux-Rempart, a canalised arm of that river. Grande Île was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. At the time, the International Council on Monuments and Sites noted that Grande Île is "an old quarter that exemplifies medieval cities". Strasbourg was the first city to have its entire city center be listed as a World Heritage Site.Grande Île is sometimes referred to as "ellipse insulaire" because of its shape. It measures some 1.25 kilometres (0.78 mi) by 0.75 kilometres (0.47 mi) at its longest and broadest. At the centre of the island lies Place Kléber, the city's central square. Further south is Strasbourg Cathedral, the world's fourth-tallest church and an ornate example of 15th-century Gothic architecture. At the western end of the island is the quarter of Petite France, the former home of the city's tanners, millers and fishermen, and now one of Strasbourg's main tourist attractions. The Grande Île also houses the former fluvial customs house Ancienne Douane. Besides the cathedral, the Grande Île is home to four other centuries-old churches: St. Thomas, St. Pierre-le-Vieux, St. Pierre-le-Jeune, and St. Étienne. Being the historical center of Strasbourg and the seat of local secular power, it also houses the city's most imposing 18th-century hôtels particuliers and palaces, including the Palais Rohan, the Hôtel de Hanau (now the city hall), Hôtel des Deux-Ponts (birthplace of Ludwig I of Bavaria and now home to the city's military governor), Hôtel de Klinglin, Hôtel d'Andlau-Klinglin, Hôtel de Neuwiller, among many others. The island is also home to the Episcopal palace of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg.To mark Grande Île's status as a World Heritage Site, 22 brass plates were placed on the bridges giving access to the island.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Grande Île, Strasbourg (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Grande Île, Strasbourg
Rue de Zurich, Strasbourg Krutenau

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N 48.583 ° E 7.748 °
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Grande Île

Rue de Zurich
67085 Strasbourg, Krutenau
Grand Est, France
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Strasbourg
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Strasbourg (UK: , US: , French: [stʁasbuʁ] (listen); German: Straßburg [ˈʃtʁaːsbʊʁk] (listen); Bas Rhin Alsatian: Strossburi [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁi] (listen), Haut Rhin Alsatian: Strossburig [ˈʃd̥ʁɔːsb̥uʁiɡ̊] (listen)) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the European Parliament. Located at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace, it is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department. In 2020, the city proper had 290,576 inhabitants and both the Eurométropole de Strasbourg (Greater Strasbourg) and the Arrondissement of Strasbourg had 511,552 inhabitants. Strasbourg's metropolitan area had a population of 853,110 in 2019, making it the eighth-largest metro area in France and home to 14% of the Grand Est region's inhabitants. The transnational Eurodistrict Strasbourg-Ortenau had a population of roughly 1,000,000 in 2022. Strasbourg is one of the de facto four main capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Luxembourg and Frankfurt), as it is the seat of several European institutions, such as the European Parliament, the Eurocorps and the European Ombudsman of the European Union. An organization separate from the European Union, the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights, its European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines most commonly known in French as "Pharmacopée Européenne", and its European Audiovisual Observatory) is also located in the city. Together with Basel (Bank for International Settlements), Geneva (United Nations), The Hague (International Court of Justice) and New York City (United Nations world headquarters), Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order. The city is the seat of many non-European international institutions such as the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine and the International Institute of Human Rights. It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris. Strasbourg's historic city centre, the Grande Île (Grand Island), was classified a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988, with the newer "Neustadt" being added to the site in 2017. Strasbourg is immersed in Franco-German culture and although violently disputed throughout history, has been a cultural bridge between France and Germany for centuries, especially through the University of Strasbourg, currently the second-largest in France, and the coexistence of Catholic and Protestant culture. It is also home to the largest Islamic place of worship in France, the Strasbourg Grand Mosque.Economically, Strasbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as a hub of road, rail, and river transportation. The port of Strasbourg is the second-largest on the Rhine after Duisburg in Germany, and the second-largest river port in France after Paris.