When this Abbey of Saint Germain de Près was founded in the 6th century, Paris was little more than wooden huts on Ile de la Cite and a bit on the right bank. This medieval city resembled its modern incarnation only very slightly. The twin bell towers of Notre Dame were still four hundred years to come, the fashionable and expensive real estate of Boulevard St. Germain was no more than grassy marshland continually flooded by the Seine River.

The abbey owned and operated all of the land on the left bank until in the 17th century when they were pressured to hand over the land to members of the French royal family. The quarter subsequently became a very popular neighborhood for the rich and the royal.

Today, the oldest church in Paris stands among the avenues and apartments, with memories of past kings and queen, fields and former glory.