<P> Later Romans under Saint Genevieve escaped to the island when their city was attacked by Huns . Clovis established a Merovingian palace on the island, which became the capital of Merovingian Neustria . The island remained an important military and political centre throughout the Middle Ages . Odo used the island as a defensive position to fend off Viking attacks at the Siege of Paris in 885 - 86, and in the 10th century, a cathedral (the predecessor of Notre - Dame) was built on the island . </P> <P> From early times wooden bridges linked the island to the riverbanks on either side, the Grand Pont (the Pont au Change) spanning the wider reach to the Right Bank, and the Petit Pont spanning the narrower crossing to the Left Bank . The first bridge rebuilt in stone (in 1378) was at the site of the present Pont Saint - Michel, but ice floes carried it away with the houses that had been built on it in 1408 . The Grand Pont or Pont Notre - Dame, also swept away at intervals by floodwaters, and the Petit Pont, were rebuilt by Fra Giovanni Giocondo at the beginning of the 16th century . The six arches of the Pont Notre - Dame supported gabled houses, some of half - timbered construction, until all were demolished in 1786 . </P> <P> The Île de la Cité remains the heart of Paris . All road distances in France are calculated from the 0 km point located in the Place du Parvis de Notre - Dame, the square facing Notre - Dame's pair of western towers . </P> <P> The Pont Neuf, the "new bridge" that is now the oldest bridge in Paris, was completed by Henry IV, who inaugurated it in 1607 . The bronze equestrian statue of Henry IV was commissioned from Giambologna under the orders of Marie de Medici, Henry's widow and Regent of France, in 1614 . After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla in 1618 . It was destroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but was remade from surviving casts in 1818 . The sculpture originally rose from the river on its own foundations, abutting the bridge; since then, the natural sandbar building of a mid-river island, aided by stone - faced embankments called quais, has extended the island, which is planted as the teardrop - shaped Parc Vert Galant in honour of Henry IV, the "Green Gallant" King . </P>

What part of paris is notre dame in