Pont Saint-Michel () is a bridge linking the Place Saint-Michel on the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the river

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

to the

Île de la Cité The Île de la Cité (; English: City Island, "Island of the City") is one of the two natural islands on the Seine River (alongside, Île Saint-Louis) in central Paris. It spans of land. In the 4th century, it was the site of the fortress of ...

. It was named after the nearby chapel of Saint-Michel. It is near Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de Justice. The present 62-metre-long bridge dates to 1857.

History

First constructed in 1378, it has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1857.

The medieval bridge

The construction of a stone bridge was decided upon in 1378 by the

Parlement of Paris The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

after an accord with the chapter of the cathedral of

Notre-Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris ( ; meaning "Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris"), often referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a Medieval architecture, medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the River Seine), in the 4th arrondissemen ...

, the

provost of Paris The mayor of Paris (, ) is the chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to the Council of Paris, is ...

, and the city's merchants. A location downstream of Petit-Pont was chosen, on the line of Rue Saint-Denis, from the Grand-Pont on the

right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

and of

Rue de la Harpe The Rue de la Harpe () is a street in Paris' Latin Quarter. Relatively calm and cobblestoned along much of its length, it runs in a south-easterly direction between the Rue de la Huchette and the Rue Saint-Séverin, where it turns south-west ...

on the

. This allowed for a direct route across

. The provost,

Hugues Aubriot Hugues Aubriot (born 13XX in Dijon; died c. 1391 in Dijon) was a French administrator and heretic. Aubriot was Provost of Paris under Charles V. He built the Bastille in 1370-1383. He was a capable administrator who built the first sewers in Pa ...

, was charged with overseeing the project, which was funded by the king. Construction lasted from 1379 to 1387. Once complete, the Parisians named the bridge ''Pont-Neuf'' (New Bridge, but it should not be confused with the present-day

Pont-Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "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 was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

), ''Petit-Pont-Neuf'' (Little New Bridge) or ''Pont Saint-Michel dit le Pont-Neuf'' (St. Michael's Bridge, known as the 'New' Bridge). As was common in the Middle Ages, the bridge's sides were quickly filled with houses. During the 1407–1408 winter, one of the longest and most severe known in the Middle Ages, ice carried by the frozen Seine hit the bridge, causing it to collapse, together with its houses. Due to France's difficulties in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, the bridge was immediately rebuilt in wood. This material proved less resistant than the previous stone bridge and the Parlement of Paris decided in 1444 to allocate all money raised from fines to building a new stone bridge on the site. 1577 Pont Saint Michel

The appearance of this second bridge is known from one

miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript ** Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album ** Ottoman miniatur ...

in the ''

Hours of Étienne Chevalier The Hours of Étienne Chevalier is an illuminated book of hours commissioned by Étienne Chevalier, treasurer to king Charles VII of France, from the miniature painter and illuminator Jean Fouquet. Only 48 of its leaves with 47 miniatures survive, ...

'', painted by

Jean Fouquet Jean (or Jehan) Fouquet (; – 1481) was a French painter and miniaturist. A master of panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature, he is considered one of the most important painters from the ...

. This shows a bridge resting on high wooden piers, as well as

wattle-and-daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called " wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for ...

or wood-and-plaster houses with a single level roofline along the whole length of the bridge.

The Renaissance bridge

A replacement bridge was built at the same time the

Pont Marie The Pont Marie () is a bridge which crosses the Seine in Paris, France. The bridge links the Île Saint-Louis to the quai de l'Hôtel de Ville and is one of three bridges designed to allow traffic flow between the Île Saint-Louis and the Left ...

was under construction. Owned by the king, it was more substantial than the Pont Marie and never ran into the kind of structural troubles both the Pont Marie and the

Pont Neuf The Pont Neuf (, "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 was, between 250 and 225 BC, ...

encountered. The work started in 1617 and was completed in 1623, using foundations similar to the ones used in the

Rialto Bridge The Rialto Bridge (; ) is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Connecting the ' (districts) of San Marco and San Polo, it has been rebuilt several times since its first construction as a pontoon bridge in 1 ...

and the Pont des Boucheries. These foundations used wooden piles topped by a wooden platform over which the specifications required lower stone courses of to long by to thick. Built with four spans in the form of circular arcs, the roadway sloped up to the center of the bridge with a

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

of over 6%. The two larger spans were approximately long, while the two shorter spans, on either side, were approximately long. The widest of the old Paris bridges, it was designed to hold two rows of houses. An order was issued in 1786 to remove all houses from Paris bridges, but the ones on this bridge remained until 1808.

The modern bridge

The present 62-metre-long bridge dates to 1857, requiring only seven months for construction, from the date the older bridge was closed to traffic, and was designed on three 17.2m arches by Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie and Paul Vaudrey. It was the site of many of the killings of protesters by the police, in the

Paris massacre of 1961 The Paris massacre of 1961 (also called the 17 October 1961 massacre in France) was the mass killing of Algerians who were living in Paris by the French National Police. It occurred on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War (1954–62). Under ...

, and a commemoration plaque on the bridge was unveiled by the mayor of Paris in 2001.

Location

The entrances to two underground stations are located next to the bridge in Place Saint-Michel. Saint-Michel is on line 4 of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

, whilst Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame is on line B and line C of the Paris Réseau Express Régional (RER).

Gallery

Image:Pont Saint-Michel vu du Petit-Pont-20050628.jpg, View from Petit-Pont Image:Pont Saint-Michel vu du Petit-Pont-closeup-20050628.jpg, View from Petit-Pont

Bibliography

* P. Lorentz et D. Sandron, ''Atlas de Paris au Moyen Âge'', Paris, 2006, Parigramme.

References

External links

*
Mairie de Paris site
*
Structurae

Satellite view on Google Map
* (1378–1387) * (1416) * (1549) * (1618–1624) * (current) {{Authority control Saint-Michel Saint-Michel Buildings and structures in the 1st arrondissement of Paris Buildings and structures in the 4th arrondissement of Paris Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris Buildings and structures in the 6th arrondissement of Paris 1857 establishments in France