Pont Neuf

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Le Pont Neuf
The bridge as seen from the Pont des Arts
Coordinates	48°51′27″N 2°20′30″E / 48.85750°N 2.34167°E / 48.85750; 2.34167
Crosses	River Seine
Locale	Paris, France
Next upstream	Pont au Change Pont Saint-Michel
Next downstream	Pont des Arts
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Stone
Total length	232 metres (761 ft)[1]
Width	22 metres (72 ft)[1]
No. of spans	7 + 5
History
Designer	Believed to be Baptiste Androuet du Cerceau and Guillaume Marchand maintenance engineering by Soufflot, Perronet, Lagalisserie and Résal[2]
Construction start	1578[1]
Construction end	1607[1]
Location

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 was, between 250 and 225 BC, the birthplace of Paris, then known as Lutetia and, during the medieval period, 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.^[3]