Petit Pont, the oldest bridge in Paris
The Petit Pont is a bridge in a class of its own, as it is the oldest bridge in Paris! The first wooden bridge was built by the Gallic tribe of the Parisii in the 3rd century BC to connect their fortress of Lutetia (Ile de la Cité) located on the island, with the Rive Gauche – left bank of the river. They built a second bridge (Pont Notre Dame) on the north side of the island to connect it with the Rive Droite – right bank.
The Romans conquered northern Gaul in 52 BC and made Lutetia the centre of their power and local administration. They improved the island’s fortifications and replaced the Parisii’s wooden bridges with new, more robust wooden structures.
The bridge spanning the narrower branch of the Seine, was named the Petit Pont (Little Bridge), while its counterpart, the Grand Pont (Great Bridge), now the Pont Notre-Dame, spanned the wider branch.
Aligned with the Roman Cardo, the main north-south axis, now represented by the Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue Saint-Martin, these bridges became essential communication routes between the island and the two banks of the Seine.
Over the centuries, the Seine’s recurring floods ravaged the Petit Pont, necessitating its reconstruction on numerous occasions between the 9th and 18th centuries. However, each time, it was rebuilt in the same location and was never renamed!
The stone bridge
In 1175, Maurice Sully, Bishop of Paris and supervisor of the construction of Notre-Dame Cathedral, commissioned the construction of the first Petit Pont (Little Bridge) in stone. However, the exceptional floods in 1393 destroyed this bridge.
A new three-arched stone bridge was then built, financed by a tax levied on the Jewish community of Paris! However, the floods of 1408 also destroyed this new bridge. Other attempts at reconstruction followed, including a plan for two rows of houses, but financial constraints delayed the work until 1416.
Recurring floods continued to ravage the bridge in the 17th century, leading to its reconstruction in 1659: a stone bridge resting on wooden piers.
Unfortunately, another tragedy struck in 1718 when a barge loaded with hay collided with the bridge’s piers, causing a fire that destroyed it. The Petit Pont was rebuilt in 1719, but without houses.
Finally, in 1853, the engineer Ernest Gariel and the architect Alexandre Michal constructed the current 32-m-long and 20-m-wide single-arch bridge. Although it may not be among the most aesthetically pleasing bridges in Paris, the Petit Pont is undoubtedly the most historically significant!
Metro: St-Michel or Cité on Line 4
Coordinates: Lat 48.853294 – Long 2.347025
