Audio GuideAlma's bridge

Pont de l'Alma is a road bridge that spans the River Seine in Paris. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century, between eighteen fifty-four and eighteen fifty-six, as an arch bridge to honor a victory in the Crimean War. The bridge was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III and named after the Battle of Alma, a key moment during that conflict.

Fred Booker

Originally, the bridge featured decorative military statues on its piers. One of these statues, a Zouave, became famous among locals. This statue has even been used as an indicator of the Seine’s flood levels. Over time, as traffic increased and the original structure began to settle, engineers decided to rebuild the bridge. Between nineteen seventy and nineteen seventy-four, it was reconstructed as a girder bridge, now measuring one hundred fifty-three meters in length and forty-two meters in width.

Rafal Biegacz

The area around Pont de l'Alma is also remembered for a tragic late-twentieth-century event. In nineteen ninety-seven, Princess Diana lost her life in a car accident near the entrance of the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. A nearby monument known as the Flame of Liberty now stands as an unofficial tribute to her memory.

Whether you are interested in history, art, or local culture, Pont de l'Alma offers a meaningful glimpse into Parisian life.