At Petite France, the river Ill splits up into a number of channels that cascade through an area that was, in the Middle Ages, home to the city's tanners, millers and fishermen, and is now one of Strasbourg's main tourist attractions.

Up until the 19th century, the three units that make up the district today were called in Alsatian dialect "Am Pflanzbad", "Der Mühlenplan" and "Bei den Gedeckten Brücken".

[5] Just upstream of Petite France, the river Ill flows through the Barrage Vauban, a defensive structure built at the end of the 17th century.

[6] Downstream of the Ponts Couverts, the four channels flow through an area of largely half-timbered buildings which, together with the narrow lanes and footbridges that connect them, mostly date from the 16th and 17th centuries.

This passes through a lock and the Pont du Faisan swing bridge in the centre of the quarter, and is largely used by passenger trip boats.

[1][6][7] On the north bank of the Ill at the heart of the quarter is the Maison des Tanneurs, home of the Tanner's Guild, and Place Benjamin-Zix.

The hospice was founded in 1503 by Gaspard Hofmeister, a citizen of the city, for the Landsknechte of Charles VIII of France, who had contracted syphilis during the Italian wars.