I had the intention to make three or four posts about the Seine bridges and should have finished last week, but now my objective is to finish this week, hoping that you are not getting too bored in the meantime.
The two islands, Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint Louis are connected between the banks and between themselves by all together thirteen bridges, actually fifteen if you consider that two of them (Pont Neuf and Pont de Sully) are “double”. I have already talked about four, Pont Marie, Pont au Double, Pont de l’Archevêché and Pont Saint Louis, in my recent posts. To make the remaining nine (or eleven) in one post seems too tough, so today I will cover about half of them, the balance for my next post. On the map below, the ones in white are already “done”, the ones in orange are to come ... and today we will cover the yellow ones.
I will start up-river with Pont de Sully. (See also top picture. Sorry if Notre Dame is everywhere, but in this area it’s difficult to avoid.) The present bridge from 1877, which actually is two, starts and ends on each side of the river but passes also on the Ile Saint Louis. It replaces some older constructions from the 17th century each one with its proper name: Passerelle Damiette and Passerelle de Constantine. The name, Sully, refers of course to the famous minister of Henry IV. The bridge is part of the Haussmannian reconstruction work during the second half of the 19th century and connects to important avenues on both sides of the river.
When you arrive from the bridge on the left bank you will find the rather recent Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute), again with Jean Nouvel as architect. I would recommend a visit.
The present Pont de la Tournelle dates from 1928 and replaces different bridges, the first one from the Middle Ages. The name refers to a tower of the 12th century Philippe Auguste wall (see previous posts), now disappeared. Close to the bridge you will today instead find one of the most renowned Paris restaurants (although it has since some ten years lost its “Michelin three star status”), the Tour d’Argent. It has a history already from the 16th century, but the present building, where you can sit at a table on the top floor and have a fantastic view (if you can afford it), is of course fairly recent.
Close to the left bank there is pylon and a statue of St. Geneviève, patron saint of Paris, by Paul Landowski, perhaps best, but not only, known as the sculptor of the “Christ the Redeemer” in Rio (photo from Rio’s official tourism site).
The Pont Louis-Philippe connects Ile Saint Louis with the right bank of the Seine. Dating from 1862 it replaces a previous bridge with the same name from 1833, but which suffered a lot from fire and revolutions (1848-1852 it was called Pont de la Réforme). The name refers to King Louis Philippe who laid the first stone of the first bridge.
Behind the northern end of the bridge I could recommend a visit to the old Rue des Barres and the church Saint Gervais – a very particular atmosphere.
... as well as a short walk to just behind the close Pont Marie to find the Hôtel de Sens, built 1474-1518 with a long and varying story, but today a public library (Forney) specialising in architecture, decorative arts ... and with a collection of about a million postcards.
As a last bridge today, let’s talk about the Pont d’Arcole (celebrating another Napoleon victory). It dates from 1854 replacing a previous pedestrian one from 1828. It gives you the connection between the Paris Town Hall and the Ile de la Cité. It was the first steel bridge in Paris without any intermediate support.
The two islands, Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint Louis are connected between the banks and between themselves by all together thirteen bridges, actually fifteen if you consider that two of them (Pont Neuf and Pont de Sully) are “double”. I have already talked about four, Pont Marie, Pont au Double, Pont de l’Archevêché and Pont Saint Louis, in my recent posts. To make the remaining nine (or eleven) in one post seems too tough, so today I will cover about half of them, the balance for my next post. On the map below, the ones in white are already “done”, the ones in orange are to come ... and today we will cover the yellow ones.
I will start up-river with Pont de Sully. (See also top picture. Sorry if Notre Dame is everywhere, but in this area it’s difficult to avoid.) The present bridge from 1877, which actually is two, starts and ends on each side of the river but passes also on the Ile Saint Louis. It replaces some older constructions from the 17th century each one with its proper name: Passerelle Damiette and Passerelle de Constantine. The name, Sully, refers of course to the famous minister of Henry IV. The bridge is part of the Haussmannian reconstruction work during the second half of the 19th century and connects to important avenues on both sides of the river.
When you arrive from the bridge on the left bank you will find the rather recent Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute), again with Jean Nouvel as architect. I would recommend a visit.
The present Pont de la Tournelle dates from 1928 and replaces different bridges, the first one from the Middle Ages. The name refers to a tower of the 12th century Philippe Auguste wall (see previous posts), now disappeared. Close to the bridge you will today instead find one of the most renowned Paris restaurants (although it has since some ten years lost its “Michelin three star status”), the Tour d’Argent. It has a history already from the 16th century, but the present building, where you can sit at a table on the top floor and have a fantastic view (if you can afford it), is of course fairly recent.
Close to the left bank there is pylon and a statue of St. Geneviève, patron saint of Paris, by Paul Landowski, perhaps best, but not only, known as the sculptor of the “Christ the Redeemer” in Rio (photo from Rio’s official tourism site).
The Pont Louis-Philippe connects Ile Saint Louis with the right bank of the Seine. Dating from 1862 it replaces a previous bridge with the same name from 1833, but which suffered a lot from fire and revolutions (1848-1852 it was called Pont de la Réforme). The name refers to King Louis Philippe who laid the first stone of the first bridge.
Behind the northern end of the bridge I could recommend a visit to the old Rue des Barres and the church Saint Gervais – a very particular atmosphere.
... as well as a short walk to just behind the close Pont Marie to find the Hôtel de Sens, built 1474-1518 with a long and varying story, but today a public library (Forney) specialising in architecture, decorative arts ... and with a collection of about a million postcards.
As a last bridge today, let’s talk about the Pont d’Arcole (celebrating another Napoleon victory). It dates from 1854 replacing a previous pedestrian one from 1828. It gives you the connection between the Paris Town Hall and the Ile de la Cité. It was the first steel bridge in Paris without any intermediate support.
You can find my photos "in full" and as a slide show on Ipernity.
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