Quai de la Tournelle

The Quai de la Tournelle stretches along the Left Bank, defined by its stone embankments and rows of classic Parisian buildings that look directly across the Seine toward the Île Saint-Louis. Its name comes from a small twelfth-century turret that once stood here as part of the fortress wall built by King Philip Augustus. This structure was later replaced by a castle, known as the Tour des Galériens, where authorities held convicts before sending them to work on naval galleys.