Île Verte (Grenoble)
Encyclopedia
L'Île Verte is a neighborhood in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

, located in a bend in the Isère river
Isère River
The Isère is a 286 km long river in southeastern France, in the Rhône-Alpes région. Its source is in the Alps on the border with Italy, near the ski resort Val d'Isère. It flows into the Rhône River in Pont-de-l'Isère, a few km north of Valence...

. 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 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
Roger Anger
Roger Anger was a French architect He was the architect on the Auroville project, designed by Mirra Alfassa and financed by UNESCO...

 and Pierre Puccinelli. At a height of 98 meters (not counting the antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...

), the three towers were the highest inhabited buildings in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 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
Belledonne
Belledonne is a mountain range in the Dauphiné Alps in southeast France. The southern end of the range forms the eastern wall of the mountains that surround the city of Grenoble....

, Vercors, and Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco , meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps, Western Europe and the European Union. It rises above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence...

.

Saint Roch Cemetery

In the Ile Verte district, Saint Roch Cemetery
Saint Roch Cemetery
Saint Roch Cemetery is the first municipal cemetery in the city of Grenoble, France. Blessed by the bishop of Grenoble Claude Simon on 19 august 1810...

 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
La Tronche is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Isère department...

, 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 Sappey
Victor Sappey
Victor Sappey , also known as Pierre-Victor Sappey, is a French sculptor. His father was a stonemason.-Biography:...

 and Henri Ding
Henri Ding
Henri Ding was a French sculptor.Ding's most famous work is the Fontaine des trois ordres on the place Notre-Dame in Grenoble...

.

External links

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