You are standing on the Pont Neuf, the ‘New Bridge’. The irony is obvious: it is the oldest surviving bridge in Paris. Henri III laid its first stone on 31 May 1578, and it was completed in 1607, under Henri IV.

1A bridge without houses

What made the Pont Neuf revolutionary was what it lacked. Until then, the bridges of Paris were lined with houses. This one was left open, with raised pavements for pedestrians, almost unheard of at the time, and half-moon bays to escape the carts. It quickly became the city's great street stage: hawkers, tooth-pullers, singers and pickpockets.

2The king who came back

The first statue of Henri IV was set up in 1614, begun by Giambologna and finished by Pietro Tacca. In 1792 the Revolution pulled it down and melted it. The one you see is by François-Frédéric Lemot and was unveiled on 25 August 1818, after the monarchy had been restored. According to several sources, some of its bronze came from Napoleonic statues melted down for the purpose.

During the 2004 restoration, boxes containing documents from its unveiling were found inside the statue. It is also said that a Bonapartist founder hid anti-royalist writings inside it.

3What to look out for

  • The mascarons, mocking faces under the cornice: there are more than three hundred, no two alike.
  • The half-moon bays above each pier.
  • Square du Vert-Galant, the garden at the tip of the island, below the statue.

Documented

The first stone was laid on 31 May 1578, the bridge was completed in 1607 and Lemot's statue was unveiled in 1818.

Oral tradition

The story of anti-royalist writings hidden by a Bonapartist founder is widely told, but its details vary from source to source.

Sources and credits

French Ministry of Culture, ‘In Situ’ journal no. 14: ‘Le cavalier du Pont Neuf’ (2010); City of Paris (paris.fr), ‘Paris, un musée à ciel ouvert: les statues royales’; Jacques Hillairet, ‘Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris’.

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