Paris - Seine Bridges
The Seine bridges were scheduled by UNESCO in 1991 as international cultural monuments. Most of them are to be the subject of extensive restoration work by the end of the millennium.
Within the city of Paris the Seine is spanned by 36 bridges, 13 of them in the central area providing links to and between the Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint-Louis. These are the city's oldest bridges; those farther upstream or downstream mostly date from the 19th century.
Within the city of Paris the Seine is spanned by 36 bridges, 13 of them in the central area providing links to and between the Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint-Louis. These are the city's oldest bridges; those farther upstream or downstream mostly date from the 19th century.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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The bridges of medieval Paris served as promenades and meeting-places where people could gossip and do business. They were lined with shops, with the owners' living quarters above them. Then in modern times, when the bridges became important as traffic arteries, the old shops and houses were swept away.
The city's latest (36th) bridge, recently opened, is the Pont Charles-de-Gaulle, which links the rapidly developing 12th and 13th arrondissements in eastern Paris.
The city's latest (36th) bridge, recently opened, is the Pont Charles-de-Gaulle, which links the rapidly developing 12th and 13th arrondissements in eastern Paris.
Related Attractions
Seine - Art Bridge
The cast-iron Pont des Arts, a pedestrian bridge known as the Passerelle, has since 1802 provided a link between the Louvre and the Institut de France in Paris.
Seine - Allee de Cygnes
Allee de Cygnes is a small island on the Seine that runs under the Pont de Bir-Hakeim and Pont de Grenelle. The island features a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty which was given to the United States of America.
Seine - Bir Hakeim Bridge
Pont de Bir-Hakeim runs over the island of Allee des Cygnes on the Seine. The bridge features a sculpture by Wederkinch.
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Seine - Pont au Change
Two 14th century wooden bridges, the Pont aux Changeurs and the Pont Marchand, linking the Châtelet and the Conciergerie were replaced in the reign of Louis XIII by the Pont au Change, and the occupants of the old bridges (merchants, hawkers, dealers, money-changers) moved to the new one. During the Revolution the tumbrils carrying those condemned to death crossed the Pont au Change on their way to the guillotine in Place de la Concorde.
Seine - Royal Bridge
After a number of unsuccessful attempts to build a flood-resistant bridge downstream from the Ile de la Cité, opposite the Tuileries, the public exchequer was exhausted, and when the bridge was finally built (by Jules Hardouin- Mansart, 1685-89) it was paid for by Louis XIV from his private purse: hence its name, the "Royal Bridge". Its "hump" was removed in 1850.
