Pont Jacques-Gabriel, Stone arch bridge in Blois, France.
Pont Jacques-Gabriel is a stone arch bridge in Blois that crosses the Loire on eleven arches made of cut stone. The bridge follows a gentle curve along its length of about 280 meters, linking the center of Blois directly to the south bank.
The medieval stone bridge over the Loire collapsed on the night of 6–7 February 1716. A replacement was decided in August 1716 and entrusted by Duke Philippe d'Orléans to Jacques Gabriel; a battalion of 600 men of the Piémont regiment worked on the site from late 1716. The bridge opened on 4 May 1724, the first major public work of Louis XV's reign, with a 14.6 m obelisk at its centre.
The bridge takes its name from the royal architect Jacques Gabriel, who designed it on behalf of the French crown. Walking across it today, visitors can look along the Loire in both directions and get a clear sense of how the river shapes the layout of Blois.
The bridge is easy to reach on foot from the center of Blois and has two dedicated pedestrian walkways along its sides. It carries road traffic as well, so crossing on foot during quieter times of day gives the most comfortable experience.
The bridge is the last humpback bridge still standing on the Loire. Its central obelisk, 14.60 metres tall, was erected when the bridge opened in 1724; a marble plaque at its base, inscribed in Latin in 1786, records that Louis XV ordered the structure and that it was completed in 1724.
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