Pont Alexandre III

You are on the most ornate bridge in Paris, and perhaps the most photographed. Behind all the gilding lies a political message: the Franco-Russian alliance, sealed in the early 1890s, which ended France's diplomatic isolation in the face of Germany.

1A tsar lays the first stone

On 7 October 1896, Tsar Nicholas II, on a state visit to Paris, laid the first stone alongside President Félix Faure. The bridge bears the name of his father, Tsar Alexander III, who had died two years earlier. In Saint Petersburg, in return, the Trinity Bridge was built with French involvement. The work was finished in time for the 1900 World's Fair.

2A discreet feat

The most remarkable thing is not the decoration but what you cannot see: the bridge crosses the Seine in a single, very shallow steel arch of more than a hundred metres. It was designed this way so as not to block the view between the Champs-Élysées and the dome of Les Invalides, where Napoleon is buried.

At the centre of the arch, on each side, two groups of copper nymphs represent the Seine and the Neva, the rivers of Paris and Saint Petersburg.

3What to look out for

• The four pylons, about seventeen metres high, with their gilded winged horses.
• The bronze lamps, each adorned with cherubs.
• The view towards the golden dome of Les Invalides.