Lost and found on the Seine Ile des Ravageurs once thrived. Imagine a small island a ribbon of land on the Seine. This was the Ile des Ravageurs also known as the Ile de la Recette. It lay between Asnières-sur-Seine and Clichy in the Hauts-de-Seine department. The Ile des Ravageurs wasn’t always a forgotten place.
In the 19th century rag pickers lived and worked there. They scavenged the riverbed for scraps of metal. Their lives formed a chapter in Eugène Sue’s famous novel Les Mystères de Paris. The book described the island’s inhabitants and their unusual profession. Sue wondered why these hardworking people had such a harsh name.
The island was long and narrow. It measured about 500 meters long and 30 meters wide. The Ile des Ravageurs ran parallel to another island Ile Robinson. A bridge connected them to the mainland. The bridge also spanned the narrow channels separating the islands from each other and the riverbanks.
One remarkable fact about the Ile des Ravageurs is that it housed one of the world’s first animal cemeteries. The Cimetière des Chiens d’Asnières opened there in 1899. Today a park marks the location of both islands. The park connects the former location of Ile des Ravageurs to the mainland. It also stands as a reminder of this little-known historical detail.
Sadly the Ile des Ravageurs disappeared in the 1970s. The expansion of the Paris Metro line 13 and the construction of a new bridge led to its disappearance. The river was re-channeled. The island was reclaimed. The land was filled. Today only the name and the memories remain. The Ile des Ravageurs a hidden chapter in Parisian history forever etched in the currents of the Seine.