Paris was founded in the 3rd century B.C. on île de la Cité by a community of Celts. They were a group of tribal fishermen called the Parisii who, pushed by emigration towards the banks of the Seine, made a permanent settlement there and profited from the area’s fertility and temperate climate. Furthermore, the islands on the Seine seemed the perfect place for this little community to establish their capital.
At the time of the Parisii’s settlement in the area, there were seven islands on the river between what is now the pont d'Austerlitz and the pont des Arts. . In giving them their modern names, the first was the Ile Louviers (which existed until 1843, when it was reunited with the mainland to become Quai Henri IV), Ile Saint-Louis was divided into three islets which were successively joined to each other, the same was the case for Ile de la Cité, which was originally three separate islets.
