Pont Notre-Dame
Encyclopedia
The Pont Notre-Dame is a bridge that crosses the Seine
in Paris
, France
linking the quai de Gesvres on the Rive Droite
with the quai de la Corse on the Île de la Cité
. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the sense that, while the oldest bridge in Paris that is in its original state is undoubtedly the Pont Neuf
, a bridge in some form has existed at the site of the Pont Notre-Dame since antiquity; nonetheless, it has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, a fact referred to in the Latin
inscription on it to honor its Italian
architect, Fra Giovanni Giocondo. (See below.) The bridge once was lined with approximately sixty houses, the weight of which caused a collapse in 1499.
On May 31, 1412, Charles VI of France
ordered the construction of the first version of the bridge to be named "Notre-Dame". This structure was composed of solid wood and connected the Île de la Cité
to the rue Saint-Martin. The bridge took seven years to build and had sixty houses atop it, thirty on each side. The houses were noted by Robert Gauguin as being "remarkable for their height, and the uniformity of construction" and was called the "handsomest in France." King Charles' wooden bridge collapsed on October 25, 1499 near 9 a.m., likely due to structural instabilities caused by the lack of repairs.
Stone foundations were laid for a new bridge that same year, while a ferry filled the transportation void. This time, the bridge was built with stone, as an arch bridge
under the direction of Italian
architect
, scholar and Franciscan
Friar
, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, who had also overseen the building of the Petit Pont
. The construction was completed in 1507, still overhung with sixty stone and brick buildings all built to one tall gabled design, and would become a spot of frequent commerce and trading: here was located the tiny boutique of the marchand-mercier
Edme-François Gersaint
, whose shop-sign was painted by Antoine Watteau
. The houses upon the bridge were the first to be given numbers. In 1660 the bridge was refurbished to honour the arrival in Paris of the daughter of the king Philip IV of Spain
, Maria Theresa of Spain
who became queen of France by marrying Louis XIV. Between 1746 and 1788 the houses along the bridge were demolished for sanitary purposes and because of the danger the structures caused to the bridge's stability.
In 1853, a new stone structure was completed atop the existing stone foundation, although this reincarnation was only composed of five arches. The new bridge was subsequently the cause of not less than thirty-five water traffic accidents between 1891 and 1910 and was given the unofficial name the pont du Diable (Devil's Bridge). Thus, in order to facilitate the passage of boats and the flow of the Seine, a decision was made to rebuild the bridge, this time in metal. The new work was directed by Jean Résal, who had also worked on the Pont Mirabeau
and Pont Alexandre III
; it was inaugurated in 1919 by Raymond Poincaré
, President of the French Republic. The structure has remained the same since.
from Italian poet Jacopo Sannazaro
, best known for his master-work Arcadia
, which depicted an idyllic land. The inscription reads:
This quote translates as "Joconde (Giacondo) put up this twin bridge here for you, Sequana
; you are able to speak of this priest with authority" or "in this you can swear that he was the bridge-builder", punning on two possible meanings of pontifex
. This refers to the architect, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, and the numerous bridges that had been built earlier upon that spot.
, connecting the Île de la Cité
, one of the two natural islands on the Seine within the city limits, to the Rive Droite
.
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
linking the quai de Gesvres on the Rive Droite
Rive Droite
La Rive Droite is most associated with the river Seine in central Paris. Here the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two: looking downstream, the northern bank is to the right, and the southern bank is to the left....
with the quai de la Corse on the Île de la Cité
Île de la Cité
The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris . It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded....
. The bridge is noted for being the "most ancient" in Paris, in the sense that, while the oldest bridge in Paris that is in its original state is undoubtedly the Pont Neuf
Pont Neuf
The Pont Neuf is, despite its name, the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Its name, which was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, has remained....
, a bridge in some form has existed at the site of the Pont Notre-Dame since antiquity; nonetheless, it has been destroyed and reconstructed numerous times, a fact referred to in the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription on it to honor its Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
architect, Fra Giovanni Giocondo. (See below.) The bridge once was lined with approximately sixty houses, the weight of which caused a collapse in 1499.
History
It was on this spot that the first bridge of Paris, called the Grand-Pont, crossed the Seine from antiquity. In 886, during the siege of Paris and the Norman attacks, this structure was destroyed and replaced by a plank bridge, named the Pont des Planches de Milbray (Milbray plank bridge). This bridge was destroyed by the floods of 1406.On May 31, 1412, Charles VI of France
Charles VI of France
Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...
ordered the construction of the first version of the bridge to be named "Notre-Dame". This structure was composed of solid wood and connected the Île de la Cité
Île de la Cité
The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris . It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded....
to the rue Saint-Martin. The bridge took seven years to build and had sixty houses atop it, thirty on each side. The houses were noted by Robert Gauguin as being "remarkable for their height, and the uniformity of construction" and was called the "handsomest in France." King Charles' wooden bridge collapsed on October 25, 1499 near 9 a.m., likely due to structural instabilities caused by the lack of repairs.
Stone foundations were laid for a new bridge that same year, while a ferry filled the transportation void. This time, the bridge was built with stone, as an arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
under the direction of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, scholar and Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, who had also overseen the building of the Petit Pont
Petit Pont
The Petit Pont is a bridge crossing the River Seine in Paris, built in 1853, although a structure has crossed the river at this point since antiquity. The present bridge is a single stone arch linking the IVe arrondissement and the Île de la Cité, with the 5th arrondissement, between quai de...
. The construction was completed in 1507, still overhung with sixty stone and brick buildings all built to one tall gabled design, and would become a spot of frequent commerce and trading: here was located the tiny boutique of the marchand-mercier
Marchand-mercier
A marchand-mercier is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a corporation under rules codified in 1613.. The reduplicative term literally means a merchant of merchandise, but in the 18th century took...
Edme-François Gersaint
Edme-François Gersaint
Edme-François Gersaint was a Parisian marchand-mercier who was a central figure in the development of the art market and the luxury trades during the era of the Régence and the rule of the rococo style...
, whose shop-sign was painted by Antoine Watteau
Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement...
. The houses upon the bridge were the first to be given numbers. In 1660 the bridge was refurbished to honour the arrival in Paris of the daughter of the king Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...
, Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Spain
Maria Theresa of Austria was the daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain and Elizabeth of France. Maria Theresa was Queen of France as wife of King Louis XIV and mother of the Grand Dauphin, an ancestor of the last four Bourbon kings of France.-Early life:Born as Infanta María Teresa of Spain at the...
who became queen of France by marrying Louis XIV. Between 1746 and 1788 the houses along the bridge were demolished for sanitary purposes and because of the danger the structures caused to the bridge's stability.
In 1853, a new stone structure was completed atop the existing stone foundation, although this reincarnation was only composed of five arches. The new bridge was subsequently the cause of not less than thirty-five water traffic accidents between 1891 and 1910 and was given the unofficial name the pont du Diable (Devil's Bridge). Thus, in order to facilitate the passage of boats and the flow of the Seine, a decision was made to rebuild the bridge, this time in metal. The new work was directed by Jean Résal, who had also worked on the Pont Mirabeau
Pont Mirabeau
The pont Mirabeau was built between 1895 and 1897. It was listed a historical monument in 1975.-Geography:The bridge spans the Seine from the 15th arrondissement , to the 16th arrondissement. It links rue de la Convention and place Mirabeau, on the left bank, to rue de Rémusat. On the left side,...
and Pont Alexandre III
Pont Alexandre III
The Pont Alexandre III is an arch bridge that spans the Seine, connecting the Champs-Élysées quarter and the Invalides and Eiffel Tower quarter, widely regarded as the most ornate, extravagant bridge in Paris...
; it was inaugurated in 1919 by Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
, President of the French Republic. The structure has remained the same since.
Inscription
Beneath one of the arches, there is a distich in LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
from Italian poet Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic Arcadia, a masterwork that illustrated the possibilities of poetical prose in Italian, and instituted the theme of...
, best known for his master-work Arcadia
Arcadia (utopia)
Arcadia refers to a vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature. The term is derived from the Greek province of the same name which dates to antiquity; the province's mountainous topography and sparse population of pastoralists later caused the word Arcadia to develop into a poetic byword for an...
, which depicted an idyllic land. The inscription reads:
This quote translates as "Joconde (Giacondo) put up this twin bridge here for you, Sequana
Sequana
In Gallo-Roman religion, Sequana was the goddess of the river Seine, particularly the springs at the source of the Seine, and the Gaulish tribe the Sequani...
; you are able to speak of this priest with authority" or "in this you can swear that he was the bridge-builder", punning on two possible meanings of pontifex
Pontifex
PONTIFEX was a mid-1980s project that introduced a novel approach to complex aircraft fleet scheduling, partially funded by the European Commission’s Strategic Programme for R&D in Information Technology.Since the mathematical problems stemming from non trivial fleet scheduling easily become...
. This refers to the architect, Fra Giovanni Giocondo, and the numerous bridges that had been built earlier upon that spot.
Art
- Each of the bridge's arches carries a head of DionysusDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
carved in stone. Additionally, its piles are decorated on each side with a ram's head. In the niches along the arches there are statues of Saint LouisLouis IX of FranceLouis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
, Henri IVHenry IV of FranceHenry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
, Louis XIII, and Louis XIV. - In 1756, during the bridge's commercial peak, Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste RaguenetNicolas-Jean-Baptiste RaguenetNicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet was a French painter born in Gentilly.He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Raguenet , actor and painter, and Genevieve Murgues...
painted La joute de mariniers entre le pont Notre-Dame et le Pont-au-Change (Jousting of the mariners between the Pont Notre-Dame and the Pont-au-Change), which shows the buildings built atop the bridge. - In 1856, colour-blind artist Charles MeryonCharles MéryonCharles Méryon , was a French artist, who worked almost entirely in etching, as he suffered from colour-blindness. Although now little-known in the English-speaking world, he is generally recognised as the most significant etcher of 19th century France. He also suffered from mental illness, dying...
etched "L'Arche du pont Notre-Dame" (The arch of Pont Notre-Dame).
Access
The Pont Notre-Dame is centrally located in Paris' IVth arrondissementIVe arrondissement
The 4th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, it is bordered to the west by the 1st arrondissement; to the north by the 3rd, to the east by the 11th and 12th, and to the south by the Seine and the...
, connecting the Île de la Cité
Île de la Cité
The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris . It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded....
, one of the two natural islands on the Seine within the city limits, to the Rive Droite
Rive Droite
La Rive Droite is most associated with the river Seine in central Paris. Here the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two: looking downstream, the northern bank is to the right, and the southern bank is to the left....
.