In the Middle Ages, the domain of Notre-Dame's powerful chapter stretched to the north of the cathedral, in an enclosed area with four doors where the canons each had a house and received their pupils: this renowned Notre-Dame school (Gerbert, Abélard, Saint Dominique taught there) must have merged with the Sorbonne. Well-restored, this quarter provides the last pieces of evidence as to how the city looked before Haussmann swept through.