The Pont Neuf (French pronunciation: [pɔ̃ nœf], "New Bridge") is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. It stands by the western (downstream) point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that between 250 and 225 BC was the birthplace of Paris (then known as Lutetia). During the medieval period, the Île was the heart of the city. The bridge is composed of two separate spans, one of five arches joining the left bank to the Île de la Cité, another of seven joining the island to the right bank. Old engraved maps of Paris show that the newly built bridge just grazed the downstream tip of the Île de la Cité; since then, the natural sandbar building of a mid-river island, aided by stone-faced embankments called quais, has extended the island. Today the tip of the island is the location of the Square du Vert-Galant, a small public park named in honour of Henry IV, nicknamed the "Green Gallant". The name Pont Neuf was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, and has remained after all of those were replaced. Its name notwithstanding, it has long been the oldest bridge in Paris crossing the Seine. It has been listed since 1889 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.
Construction As early as 1550, Henry II considered building a new bridge at the Ile de la Cité because the existing Pont Notre-Dame was congested and needed repair. The idea was not advanced for lack of funds. By 1577, Henry III released funds from the national treasury for a new bridge and appointed a building commission for its designing and planning. Henry rejected the first design proposed by the committee, which included monumental arches, but no plan for buildings along the sides. The commission proceeded in 1578 with modifications to its initial plan, perhaps devised by the royal architect, Androuet de Cerceau. While Henry had already allowed for piers to be driven for the northern arm of bridge, the first construction under the 1579 design indicated a wider deck in preparation of buildings to be constructed on the side. The houses were never built, but the wide bridge deck was retained. In February 1578, the decision to build the bridge was made by Henry III who laid its first stone in on 31 May 1578, the same year when the foundations of four piers and one abutment were completed. Pierre des Isles, one of the builders, convinced the supervisory commission that the bridge, which was originally planned straight, would be more resistant to the river currents if its two sections were built at a slight angle. The change was adopted in May 1578. Further design changes were made during the summer of 1579. First, the number of arches was changed from eight and four to seven and five. This was not a problem on the north side, where nothing had been built, but on the south, where the four piles and the abutment on the Left Bank were already laid, the addition of the fifth arch necessitated reducing the length of the platform on the island, the terre-plein, from 28.5 toises to about 19. Second, it was decided to allow houses to be built on the bridge (though they never were). This required the widening of the bridge. The remaining piers were built over the next nine years. After a long delay beginning in 1588, due to political unrest and to the Wars of Religion, construction was resumed in 1599 under the reign of Henry IV. The bridge was opened to traffic in 1604 and completed in July 1606. It was inaugurated by Henry IV in 1607. Like most bridges of its time, the Pont Neuf is constructed as a series of many short arch bridges, following Roman precedents. It was the first stone bridge in Paris not to support houses in addition to a thoroughfare, and was also fitted with pavements protecting pedestrians from mud and horses; pedestrians could also step aside into its bastions to let a bulky carriage pass. The decision not to include houses on the bridge can be traced back directly to Henry IV, who decided against their inclusion on the grounds that houses would impede a clear view of the Louvre, which the newly built galerie du bord de l'eau linked to the Tuileries Palace.
Pont Neuf was for a long time the widest bridge in Paris. It has undergone much repair and renovation work, including rebuilding of seven spans in the long arm and lowering of the roadway by changing the arches from an almost semi-circular to elliptical form (1848–1855), lowering of sidewalks and faces of the piers, spandrels, cornices and replacing crumbled corbels as closely to the originals as possible. In 1885, one of the piers of the short arm was undermined, removing the two adjacent arches, requiring them to be rebuilt and all the foundations strengthened. A major restoration of the Pont Neuf was begun in 1994 and completed in 2007, the year of its 400th anniversary.
Mascarons
The mascarons are 381 stone masks, each different from the others, which decorate the sides of the bridge. They represent the heads of forest and field divinities from ancient mythology, as well as satyrs and sylvains. They are copies of the originals attributed to the French Renaissance sculptor Germain Pilon (1525–1590), who also sculpted the tomb of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine de'Medici in the Basilica of St Denis, five kilometers north of Paris. The mascarons remained in place until 1851–1854, when the bridge was completely rebuilt. At that time six of the original mascarons from the 16th century were placed in the Musée Carnavalet, along with eight molds of other originals. Eight other originals were first placed in the Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge, and are now in the French National Museum of the Renaissance in the Château d'Écouen. During their reconstruction, the Renaissance masks were replaced with copies made by noted 19th-century sculptors, including Hippolyte Maindron, Hubert Lavigne, Antoine-Louis Barye and Fontenelle. Fontenelle made 61 masks, which are found on the upstream side of the bridge between the right bank and the Île de la Cité.
Equestrian statue of Henry IV
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