Pont Notre-Dame, Steel arch bridge in 4th arrondissement, France
Pont Notre-Dame is a steel arch bridge spanning the Seine near Notre-Dame Cathedral, connecting the Right Bank with Île de la Cité. It has five arches and carries motor vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians across its roadway.
The current structure was built in 1919 at a location where different bridges have stood since Roman times. A wooden predecessor was constructed in 1412 by order of Charles VI and stood for centuries before a stone bridge with houses replaced it.
This bridge crosses the Seine at a location where people and goods have moved between the banks for centuries. Today, pedestrians and cyclists use it as an ordinary passage through the city.
The bridge is straightforward to cross on foot or by bicycle and offers a direct path between the banks. Conditions are best outside peak traffic times when the road is less congested.
Latin inscriptions beneath the arches recall Fra Giovanni Giocondo, an Italian architect who oversaw an earlier stone version of the crossing. These inscriptions are easy to miss, yet they speak to continuity across different building phases of the site.
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