Fishery Quarter, Montargis

The Fishery Quarter is the oldest and most photogenic district in Montargis, a small city in the Loiret department known as the "Venice of the Gâtinais" for its network of canals and 131 footbridges. This former fishermen's neighbourhood sits where the Loing, Puiseaux, and Vernisson rivers converge, with houses built directly over the water channels in a style reminiscent of Venetian architecture — one facade facing the street, the other facing the canal. A devastating fire in 1525 destroyed the entire district, so the surviving half-timbered houses and stone structures date from the 16th-century reconstruction onward.