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Contrary to what its name proclaims, the Pont-Neuf is the oldest bridge in Paris.
In 1578, Henry III decreed the construction of the Pont-Neuf, intended to cross a line between two arms of the Seine, 281 meters separation between the two sides. In fact, it is composed of two different bridges articulated by a median strip on the tip of the Ile de la Cité.
Henry IV continues the work of his predecessor and ends in 1606. It imposes the first bridge without homes, free movement and provided with sidewalks for pedestrians. This lack of visual barrier is an urban revolution. For this he financed the work, raising a tax on wine throughout the Generalitat of Paris rather than use, as was customary, to the income reported by the houses and shops on the existing bridges. The half-moons, based on each stack, hosted shops in the open wind, strippers teeth or artists.
On the boulevard which links the two parts of the bridge is the equestrian statue of Henri IV. Commissioned in 1604 by Marie de Medici, the first royal statue erected in a public place. It will be shot in 1792 and later replaced by the current monument, cast in bronze statue of the first column of Vendome.
The bridge has been immortalized in two French films: Four Nights of a Dreamer (Robert Bresson, 1971) and The Lovers of the Pont-Neuf (Leo Carax, 1991)
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