To get from the Place de la Concorde to the Left Bank, you need to take a short trip over the Pont de la Concorde . You might as well take the opportunity to learn a little about the bridge's history!
The project to build a bridge on this site remained in the pipeline for 50 years, before being realized in 1775. The reason for this was a lack of funds to finance the construction. But a fortunate event changed all that, and enabled the bridge to be built quickly afterwards: the French Revolution! In fact, you may not know it, but the Pont de la Concorde, then known as the Pont Louis XVI, was built using ashlar from the ruins of the famous Bastille prison, after it was taken in 1789!
This handsome neoclassical bridge, with its five arches supported by three-meter-diameter columns, was inaugurated in 1791. Napoleon later had statues carved of eight generals who died on the battlefield during the campaigns of the First Empire.
But during the Restoration, Louis XVIII had these statues replaced by twelve white marble statues representing the great men of the Ancien Régime. However, they were too heavy and weakened the bridge. They were removed by Louis-Philippe I, who had them moved to the main courtyard of the Château de Versailles.
It was in 1830 that the bridge adopted its present name of Pont de la Concorde. 100 years later, due to heavy traffic, the Pont de la Concorde was enlarged by engineers Deval and Malet. After being removed to ease traffic, sidewalks were re-established in 1929. And fortunately for us, it would otherwise be impossible to enjoy the beautiful views of Paris from the Pont de la Concorde, without risking being run over!
