Île Verte (Grenoble)

L'Île Verte is a neighborhood in Grenoble, located in a bend in the Isère river. It is relatively independent from downtown. The district is one of the most heavily populated in the town, due primarily to the large apartments (three large towers, as well as an ?S-shaped apartment complex). The area is mostly residential, but there is also a hotel, the Hotel de Police de Grenoble.

The Three Towers

The landmark Residence Île Verte, popularly referred to as "the Three Towers of Grenoble," was built within a park in the Île Verte district between 1963 and 1967, on a plan by Roger Anger and Pierre Puccinelli. At a height of 98 meters (not counting the antenna), the three towers were the highest inhabited buildings in Europe when they were completed, with a total of 504 apartments spread among 28 inhabited floors, each tower containing a total of 33 stories. The towers are named Belledonne, Vercors, and Mont Blanc.

Photos of the district

aint Roch Cemetery

In the Ile Verte district, Saint Roch is not the oldest cemetery in Grenoble, but it is the first hat was opened by the city and intended for all residents. It was built in 1804, but was inaugurated in 1810 and took its name from the nearby Saint Roch chapel. It is still in use, augmented by the cemetery of the Sablons at La Tronche, on the other side of the Isere river.

Some of the funerary monuments have real artistic value, among them the works of Grenoble sculptors Victor Sappy and Henri Ding.

External links

* [http://www.architecturerhonealpes.com/patrimoine/historique.php3?id_loca=97 La maison de l'architecture Rhône-Alpes] (French)
* [http://norby4.free.fr/tours.grenoble/ On the Three Towers of Grenoble] (French)
* [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?id=s0018170 Structurae: Tours de l'Ile Verte]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=114882 Tours de l'Ile Verte] (English)