ÃŽle Verte is a neighborhood in
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, France, located in a bend in the river
Isère
Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019. . 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 the Police Headquarters (Hotel de Police) is also located here.
The Three Towers
The landmark Residence ÃŽle Verte, popularly referred to as "the Three Towers of Grenoble," was built within a park in the ÃŽle Verte district between 1963 and 1967, on a plan by
Roger Anger
Roger Anger (24 March 1923 – 15 January 2008) was a French architect who worked on the Auroville project, designed by Mirra Alfassa and endorsed by UNESCO and the Government of India. He also collaborated many times with Pierre Puccinelli, n ...
and
Pierre Puccinelli. At a height of 98 meters (not counting the
antenna), the three towers were the highest inhabited buildings in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
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
Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...
.
Photos of the district
image:Ile-verte grenoble.jpg, Three towers of Ile Verte
image:Tour vaucanson grenoble.jpg, One of the towers seen from downtown
Saint Roch Cemetery
In the Ile Verte district,
Saint Roch Cemetery is not the oldest cemetery in Grenoble, but it is the first that was opened by the city and intended for all residents. It was inaugurated in 1810 and took its name from the nearby Saint Roch chapel. It is still in use, augmented in 1941 by the cemetery of the Grand Sablon at
La Tronche
La Tronche () is a commune in the Isère department, Southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration). , on the other side of the Isère.
Some of the funerary monuments have real artistic value, among them the works of Grenoble sculptors
Victor Sappey and
Henri Ding.
External links
La maison de l'architecture Rhône-Alpes(French)
Structurae: Tours de l'Ile Verte* (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ile Verte
Geography of Grenoble