Zouave du pont de l'Alma, Military statue at Pont de l'Alma, France
The Zouave du pont de l'Alma is a limestone figure on the right pier of Alma bridge in Paris. The sculpture shows a soldier in North African uniform with a fez and wide trousers, standing upright and facing north.
Georges Diebolt created the figure in 1856 as a memorial to the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War. The original stood with three other soldier statues on the old bridge until it was rebuilt in the 1970s.
Parisians have used the Zouave's feet as a natural gauge to measure Seine River flood levels for more than a century.
The figure stands on the right pier of the bridge, clearly visible from the left bank of the Seine. The nearest metro station Alma-Marceau is a short walk away in the 8th arrondissement.
The feet of the figure have served locals as a water level marker for the Seine for over a hundred years. During the great flood of 1910, the water reached up to the shoulders, marking the highest level ever recorded.
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