Touren · Paris · Bridge

Pont Neuf

Despite a name that means New Bridge, this is the oldest bridge in Paris, finished in 1607 under Henri the Fourth. A bronze king still rides his horse at its center, watched over by hundreds of carved stone faces.

Über diesen Ort

Begun under King Henri the Third in 1578 and completed by Henri the Fourth, who inaugurated it in 1607, the Pont Neuf was a landmark of innovation. It was the first stone bridge to span the entire width of the Seine, the first in Paris free of the houses that cluttered older crossings, and the first to offer raised pavements that kept pedestrians clear of the mud and traffic. Its twelve arches cross the western tip of the Ile de la Cite, where a bronze equestrian statue of Henri the Fourth still surveys the city. Along its cornice grin hundreds of mascarons, carved grotesque faces, relics of an age when the bridge was the liveliest public stage in Paris, thronged with performers, merchants, and crowds.

Wissenswertes

1607 year — King Henri the Fourth inaugurated the completed bridge
1578 year — King Henri the Third laid the very first stone before religious wars halted work
12 arches — Cross the Seine, seven on one side of the island and five on the other

📍 Pont Neuf, 75001, Paris

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Paris Historic Heart Highlights From the Louvre across the Seine to Notre-Dame and the Latin Quarter — the city's old core on foot.