As in all the Parisian , the fifteenth is made up of four administrative quarters (). • To the south, occupies the former site of the village of Vaugirard, built along an ancient
Roman road. The geography of the area was particularly suited to wine-making, as well as quarrying. In fact, many Parisian monuments, such as the , were built from Vaugirard stone. The village, not yet being part of Paris, was considered by Parisians to be an agreeable suburb, pleasant for country walks or its cabarets and puppet shows. In 1860 Vaugirard was annexed to Paris, along with adjoining villages. Today, notable attractions in this area include the (an exhibition centre which hosts the , agricultural expositions, in addition to car shows) and , a park built on the former site of a
slaughterhouse where every year wine by the name of is produced and auctioned at the civic centre. • To the east, was originally an uninhabited space between Paris and Vaugirard. The most well-known landmarks in the area are the
Gare Montparnasse train station and the looming office tower. The area around the train station has been renovated and now contains a number of office and apartment blocks, a park (the , built directly over the train tracks), and a shopping centre. Finally, the
quartier contains a number of public buildings: the , the
Necker Children's Hospital, as well as the private foundation
Pasteur Institute. • To the north, was originally a village of the same name. Grenelle plain extended from the current to the suburb of on the other side of the Seine, but remained mostly uninhabited in centuries past due to difficulties farming the land. At the beginning of the 19th century, an entrepreneur by the name of Violet divided off a section of the plain: this became the village of , known for its series of straight streets and blocks, which remain today. The whole area broke off from the
commune of Vaugirard in 1830, becoming the commune of Grenelle, which was in turn annexed to Paris in 1860. A century later, a number of apartment and office towers were built along the Seine, the along with the
Beaugrenelle shopping mall. • To the west, lies to the south of Grenelle plain. In years past, it was the industrial area of the : first with chemical companies (the famous bleach was invented and produced there), then electrical companies (
Thomson), and finally car manufacturers (
Citroën), whose factories occupied a large part of the up until the early 1970s. The industrial areas have since been rehabilitated; the neighbourhood now contains ,
Georges Pompidou European Hospital, and a number of large office buildings and television studios (, , the , , , etc.). In addition, to the south of the circular highway (), an extension of the 15th, formerly an aerodrome at the beginning of the 20th century, is now a heliport, a gym and a recreation centre. The early airfield here has been encroached upon by urban development and a sports centre, but the residual area, mainly laid to grass, continues to serve Paris as a
heliport. The has a detachment there close to maintenance facilities. Customs facilities are available and especially busy during the
airshows held at on the other side of the city. ==Geography==