Zouave du pont de l'Alma, Military statue at Pont de l'Alma, France
The Zouave du pont de l'Alma is a 5.2-metre stone statue by Georges Diebolt, set on the upstream side of the surviving right-bank pier of the Alma bridge. The soldier wears a fez, a short buttonless jacket, a wide cloth belt and baggy trousers, leans on his rifle and looks to his right.
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.
Parisian tradition holds that when the Seine reaches the Zouave's feet, the river is in flood; at his thighs, it is unnavigable. In the 1910 flood the water rose to his shoulders. Flood marks for 1955 and 1982 sit at nearly the same height on the statue, though they differ by 96 cm at Austerlitz.
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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