Again, three more bridges today - I will not be able to finish this week, sorry. We can see these three bridges from the Eiffel Tower (see previous posts) and from a satellite. 
There were some plans to make a bridge in front of the Invalides (see previous post) already in 1821. It failed technically and there were also protests about the destroyed perspective. Finally a bridge was built there much later, the Pont Alexandre III, but we will revert to this bridge.
At the end, what was to be called the Pont des Invalides was built a bit downstream, ready in 1829. It was not resistant enough and was replaced in 1855. Some decades later it had to be partly rebuilt and reinforced, but it’s basically the same. The bridge has some nice decorations. The sculpture that you can see (bottom left) is called the Maritime Victory (defeats are seldom celebrated). Somehow I believe that with its naked feet it would as well serve as a witness of the water level as the zouave on the Alma bridge (see my recent post).
The next bridge is the one that was finally constructed in front of the Invalides, the Pont Alexandre III on which I already posted. Here are some photos from the previous post completed by the one on the top of this post, taken recently in a much less sunny weather. This metallic bridge was built in 1900, together with a lot of other monumental buildings, including the Grand Palais (see previous post) and the Petit Palais (see previous post), for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. It was a gift by and got named after the second last Russian emperor. It’s certainly one of the most spectacular Seine bridges.
The last bridge for today is the Pont de la Concorde. Constructed during the Revolution, between 1787 and 1791, some of the material was taken from the just demolished Bastille (see previous post). Depending on the political situation, the bridge has changed name back and forth from Pont Louis XVI to Pont de la Révolution. It finally got its present name in 1830. Basically keeping the same architecture it was doubled in width in 1932 and some further slight modifications have been made later. You can here see what it looked like in 1829, equipped with statues that were later taken away – too heavy.
The bridge leads from Place de la Concorde (see previous posts) to the National Assembly (see previous posts).
There were some plans to make a bridge in front of the Invalides (see previous post) already in 1821. It failed technically and there were also protests about the destroyed perspective. Finally a bridge was built there much later, the Pont Alexandre III, but we will revert to this bridge.
At the end, what was to be called the Pont des Invalides was built a bit downstream, ready in 1829. It was not resistant enough and was replaced in 1855. Some decades later it had to be partly rebuilt and reinforced, but it’s basically the same. The bridge has some nice decorations. The sculpture that you can see (bottom left) is called the Maritime Victory (defeats are seldom celebrated). Somehow I believe that with its naked feet it would as well serve as a witness of the water level as the zouave on the Alma bridge (see my recent post).
The next bridge is the one that was finally constructed in front of the Invalides, the Pont Alexandre III on which I already posted. Here are some photos from the previous post completed by the one on the top of this post, taken recently in a much less sunny weather. This metallic bridge was built in 1900, together with a lot of other monumental buildings, including the Grand Palais (see previous post) and the Petit Palais (see previous post), for the 1900 Universal Exhibition. It was a gift by and got named after the second last Russian emperor. It’s certainly one of the most spectacular Seine bridges.
The last bridge for today is the Pont de la Concorde. Constructed during the Revolution, between 1787 and 1791, some of the material was taken from the just demolished Bastille (see previous post). Depending on the political situation, the bridge has changed name back and forth from Pont Louis XVI to Pont de la Révolution. It finally got its present name in 1830. Basically keeping the same architecture it was doubled in width in 1932 and some further slight modifications have been made later. You can here see what it looked like in 1829, equipped with statues that were later taken away – too heavy.The bridge leads from Place de la Concorde (see previous posts) to the National Assembly (see previous posts).
You can find these photos in full and as a slide show on Ipernity. (I uploaded also to Flickr on my latest posts, but I don't want to make it in double for ever. Some of you expressed a slight preference for Ipernity, so at least for the moment I concentrate on Ipernity only.)
Exceptionally I will post tomorrow, as it's time for the mid-month theme, subways. I wish you anyhow a nice weekend!
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