The Pont Neuf

The Pont Neuf, oddly enough, is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris. Its name— the "new bridge"— which distinguished it from the old bridge that was lined on both sides with houses, simply stuck.
Standing by the western point of the Île de la Cité, the island in the middle of the river that was the heart of medieval Paris, it connects the left bank, the Rive Gauche of Paris (to the south, on the right in the illustration at right) with the Rive Droite, the right bank.
The total length of the bridge is 278 m (912 feet), its width 28 m (approximately 92 feet). It is actually 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 how, when the bridge was built, it 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, which is planted as the Parc Vert Gallant, in honour of Henri IV, the "Green Gallant" King.

The decision to build the bridge was made by King Henri III, who laid its first stone in 1578. After a long delay, due in part to the Wars of Religion, it was completed under the reign of Henri IV, who inaugurated it in 1607. Pont Neuf is constructed as a series of many short arch bridges, as most bridges of that time were built, following Roman precedents. Unlike the old bridge, the bridge 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 bridge had heavy traffic from the beginning; it was for a long time the widest bridge in Paris. The structure has never been altered, although the bridge has undergone repair and renovation work. The original wooden pilings supporting the foundations still remain. A major restoration of the Pont Neuf was begun in 1994 and will be completed in 2007, the year of its 400th anniversary.
Under the wide arches, on the paved quais, the destitute of Paris called clochards have always huddled.

The equestrian statue of Henri IV

At the point where the bridge lies over the Île de la Cité, there stands a bronze equestrian statue of Henri IV, originally commissioned from Giambologna under the orders of Marie de Medicis, Henri’s widow and Regent of France, in 1614. After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla, in 1618. It was destroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but was rebuilt in 1818, following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. bronze for the new statue was obtained by melting two bronze statues of Napoleon and cast from a mold made using a surviving cast of the original. Inside the statue, the new sculptor François-Frédéric Lemot put four boxes, containing a history of the life of Henri IV, a 17th-century parchment certifying the original statue, a document describing how the new statue was commissioned, and a list of people who contributed to a public subscription. During a restoration of the statue, three small wooden cylinders were discovered, containing documents of unknown origin.