Petit Pont. The Petit Pont is an arch bridge crossing the River Seine in Paris, built in 1853, although a structure has crossed the river at this point since antiquity.
The present bridge is a single stone arch linking the 4th arrondissement and the Île de la Cité, with the 5th arrondissement, between quai de Montebello and quai Saint-Michel. The Petit Pont is notable for having been destroyed at least thirteen times since its original inception during Gallo-Roman times to the mid-19th century.
Petit Pont sign Notre-Dame de Paris and the Petit-Pont as seen from under the Pont Saint-Michel A bridge linking the Île de la Cité with the southern bank of the Seine has existed on this spot since early history. In the Roman predecessor to Paris, Lutetia Parisiorum, a bridge was built to utilize the convenient ford of the Seine, today's Île de la Cité.
Often a victim of floods, the structure has been repeatedly rebuilt. The first known flood destroying this bridge was in 885 AD. The bridge subsequently was carried away by successive floods at least thirteen times between 885 and 1658, and at least eleven times before it was built in stone.
In 1175, following yet another flood, the bishop of Paris Maurice de Sully gave his support for a new reconstruction, this time in stone. Further, after a flood destroyed the structure again in 1393, the construction of another stone bridge on the site was funde