Yair Garbuz , in his immortal book “Paris Tel Aviv – Tel Aviv Paris", deals with the question of what is the first thing to show a person who has never visitedParis (Or as he called the issue: “the right of first glance”).
His answer to this important question is to take those “Parisian virgins” to the Pont des Arts and there remove their blindfolds, so that the view that emerges will be the first sight they see. I completely agree with Mr. Garboz, but I would add a little advice. It is recommended to do the first “look” ceremony after dark because the “wow effect” will then be perfect.
Look west and behold Eiffel Tower It sparkles with precious light. Peek east and you'll see theVon Nef At the height of its glory. Turn your gaze north and before you will stand The Louvre Museum, all of it says grandeur and glory. And finally, look south, where you will find the most impressive sight of all, at least in my opinion: the Collège de France building, which today houses the French Academy.
Today I want to tell you the story of the Collège de France (along with the Nelle Tower that preceded it) and the Pont des Arts, which form an integral part of that panoramic view of Paris that is so recommended for both those whoVisiting Paris for the first time And they are for advanced Francophiles. During the journey, which will begin in the Middle Ages, we will discover what the place looked like in the past, what that academy was, which was granted such a magnificent residence, and what is so special about the wooden bridge on which we stand, in order to enjoy the “right of first sight” of Paris.
The history of the Collège de France and the Font des Arts
Nell Tower
The spot where Yair Garbuz suggested we stand to watch the banks of the Seine is considered a very romantic place today, but in the Middle Ages, the kings France They saw it primarily as a place of paramount strategic importance.
The Seine crosses Paris and was once an important trade and transportation route. However, at the same time, the river itself also served as an invasion route. The first to use it were the Vikings, who laid siege to Paris during the 9th century, and if not for the heroism of Odo (Eudes 860-898), Count of Paris, they would have conquered it.
During the reign of King Philip II, known as Augustus (2-1180), the Vikings had already become distant history while the danger to Paris this time came from the English.
In order to fortify the Seine and protect Paris from the English, it was decided to build two formidable watchtowers. The Louvre was built on the right bank, while the Tour de Nesle was built on the left bank.
But the English were reluctant to come as a result of Philip II's victory at the Battle of Bouvins in 2, in which they lost most of their lands in France. As a result, over the years the tower lost its defensive function and became a residence. In 1214, King Philip IV (reigned 1308-4) bought the tower from its owner, Amaury de Nesle, and gave it to his sons and their wives. Big mistake!
The women used this tower to meet with their lovers and it was this affair that ultimately led to the fall of the Capetian dynasty and the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War. This is a long and fascinating story that you can read about in depth in Dr. Orna Lieberman's fascinating article, The Migdal Nell Affair: Acts of Adultery in the Royal Court.
The Queen Who Threw Her Lovers Off the Top of the Tower
One of the legends that circulated around the tower over the next hundreds of years, as can be read in the writings of Brentom (Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme 1540-1614) and the famous poet François Villon (François Villon 1431-1463), it is about the queen who lured people passing by on the street to come up to her at the Tower of Nell, and after a night of love, she ordered them to be put in a sack and thrown into the Seine River.
That queen, according to legend, is Jeanne de Burgundy (1292-1330 Jeanne de Bourgogne), wife of King Philip V (reigned 5-1316), who was the second son of King Philip IV. Jeanne was accused of being involved, along with the wives of the future kings Louis X (reigned 1322-4) and Charles IV (reigned 10-1314), in the adultery at the Tower of Nell, but when Philip V came to power he forgave her and after his death she inherited the tower.
François Villon reminds us of Queen Jeanne in his famous poem Ballade des dames du temps jadis (loosely translated: Ballad of the Ladies of the Past). It tells of a young man named Buridan, whom the queen managed to seduce into going up to her tower. When he was thrown into the river, he luckily fell onto a boat that was passing by at that very moment, and thus his life was saved. This Buridan did not simply disappear into the pages of history, but went to study and ended up becoming the rector of University of Paris.
He did not learn his lesson and continued to pursue women even after that, and as a result, he got involved in a duel with the one who would become none other than Pope Clement VI (reigned 6-1342)…
The Duke de Berry transforms the Tower of Nell into a magnificent palace
In 1380, the Tower of Nell and the adjoining estate became the residence of the Duke of Berry (Jean duc de Berry 1340-1416), the younger brother of King Charles V (reigned 5-1364) and uncle of King Charles VI (reigned 1380-6).
The Duke is recorded in the pages of history for two main reasons. The first reason was his love of peace and his attempts to prevent the civil war between the supporters of the Burgundians and the supporters of the House of Orléans (attempts that failed, as you can read in the article The Murder on Barbet Street).
The second reason why the Duke's name became famous is his love of culture and art.
That duke left us the “Book of Hours,” which is a kind of prayer book for each hour of the day decorated with beautiful and colorful paintings that constitute one of the pinnacles of Gothic art.
In this book you will see the magnificent Palais de Nell, which the Duke built next to the tower. The palace contained 4 turrets, 5 arches and a bridge that crossed the Seine and connected it to where the Square Honoré-Champion can be found today.
It is not surprising, then, that when the Duke of Bedford (John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford 1389-1435) conquered Paris, he decided to sack the palace and house his most distinguished guests there.
Palace of the French Institute (Institut de France)
The Legacy of Cardinal Mattress
The golden age of the palace and tower ended with The Hundred Years' War Both were neglected over time. However, they survived until the 17th century when Cardinal Jules Mazarin decided to establish the “Collège des Quatre-Nations” there, with the aim of providing an excellent education for young nobles from the Four Nations, which had recently been annexed to France (Flanders, Alsace, Roussillon and the small Papal States in the region Provence).
The famous architect Louis Le Vau (1612-1670), who was at the time working on the southern part of the Louvre's square courtyard, was entrusted with the task. According to his proposal, the college was located on the left bank, directly opposite the new wing where the king was to live. The aim was of course to allow the king to view the magnificent building from his window, but this never came to fruition because the king had already moved to the Palace of Versailles.
Construction of the college began in 1662 and was completed in 1688, some sixteen years after the great architect's death. Even before work began, the cardinal decided to turn the magnificent building that Le Vau had built into a kind of memorial to himself. That is why he bequeathed his vast library to the building and even ordered it to be opened to the general public twice a week.
After his death, a magnificent tomb by the sculptor Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) was erected in the place and it was placed in the beautiful chapel of the Collège de France, under the dome. During French Revolution The tombstone of Matzran was removed from the Collège de France, but fortunately it was saved from destruction and, after a long stay in the Louvre, returned to its natural place in the chapel of the Collège de France.
The college that Mazren built became a huge success, and during the 17th and 18th centuries, some of the most famous scientists of the period studied there, such as the chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) and the mathematician Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752-1833).
During the Revolution, the Collège de France was abolished along with a long line of other educational institutions. Initially, its building was used as a prison where about 650 people were imprisoned, including Dr. Guillotin (Joseph-Ignace Guillotin 1738-1814), inventor of the guillotine and painter Jacques Louis DavidIn the magnificent chapel of the place sat the “Committee for the Salvation of the People,” which was responsible for conducting the war against anyone who did not please the government (nobles, members of rival factions, etc.), and quite a bit of blood was shed because of the decisions made there…
After the end of the revolution, the place was used temporarily, until the establishment of Paris School of Fine Arts, as the home of many artists, including Jacques-Louis David, who returned to the place as a freedman and established a studio there.
In 1806, after the completion of construction Paris School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts), the painters moved to teach and work there, while the empty rooms were occupied by the French Academy, where it remains to this day. Since the Academy is one of the most important institutions, in terms ofFrench culture, allow me to pause the story for a moment, and write a few words about it.
The Academy – the bodyguard of the French language
In 1539, King Francis I (reigned 1-1515) decided thatThe French language Replace Latin as the official language of France. This decision, made in the town of Villers-Cotterêts, was of course very important, but it did not resolve the issue: what is the French language?
It should be remembered that the Kingdom of France as we know it began to develop slowly from the 10th century and initially it comprised no more than the area of Ile de France and parts ofLoire valleyOver the years, various provinces were added to the kingdom, such as: Brittany or Provence, and as a result, the subjects of the King of France spoke a night of languages and dialects. Furthermore, the language spoken at the royal court did not have a uniform standard, so the same words could be written in many different ways, which created quite a bit of confusion.
Cardinal Richelieu (Armand Jean du Plessis 1585-1642), the all-powerful prime minister of France, decided to solve this problem. In 1635, he founded the French Academy, consisting of 40 “immortals,” who were elected to office for life and whose job was to create a uniform standard for the French language. This academy was also the inspiration for the Hebrew Language Academy, which was established after the establishment of the state.
This is a very conservative institution, which fights all attempts to simplify the French language and make it a little easier to learn (the last big war they waged was against the attempt of the Minister of Education Jacques Lange in 1991 to make French grammar a little more human and easier to learn). Conservatism is expressed first and foremost in the identity of the academics, where traditionally people who did not move from the rut were chosen, while groundbreaking intellectuals such as Emile Zola They were unable to get accepted into this prestigious institution.
Furthermore, for many years the Academy excluded women from its ranks, but this changed in 1981 when the writer Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) managed to do the impossible and be accepted into the Academy in 1987.
But let's go back to the 17th century for a moment, because following the French Academy, 4 more academies were established:
- The Academy of Fine Arts (Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture) – was founded in 1648 and deals with painting, sculpture and other arts.
- The Academy of Letters (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres) – was founded in 1663 and deals with the study of the humanities (history, literature, etc.).
- The Academy of Sciences (Académie des sciences) – was founded in 1667 and deals with the study of natural sciences (chemistry, physics, mathematics, etc.).
- The Academy of Architecture (Académie Royale d'Architecture) – founded in 1671 and deals with the theory and research of construction and architecture
The Academies were housed for years in the Louvre Palace, large parts of which were vacated after the royal court moved toPalace of VersaillesFor example, the Academy of Sciences was located in the king's own residence. There, where Louis XIV used to sleep, one could find the skeleton of an elephant, a stuffed camel, and a series of organs that had been immersed in jars filled with alcohol.
All this ended in 1806, when the academies left the Louvre and the French Academy moved to the Collège de France, where it remains to this day.
The Pont des Arts (Bridge of Arts)
The Louvre Palace? Yes! A magnificent building located right across from it and housing the Academy? Yes! With that, all that was needed was a bridge to connect them and make the transition between these two beautiful monuments easy and simple.
This bridge was ordered to be built by Napoleon I, and it was a truly revolutionary bridge, as it was the first bridge in Paris to be built of iron. Construction of the bridge began in 1, and two years later, pedestrians were already crossing it, paying one sou for the pleasure. And the truth? They paid happily, both because of its geographical location, which, as mentioned, made it possible to easily jump between the 1802st arrondissement in Paris and the 1th arrondissement (and vice versa), and also because of the view from it, which I already mentioned at the beginning of the article.
As you can see in the photo above, the current Bridge of Arts is very similar to the original bridge, but there is one big difference. The original bridge had 9 arches, while the current one only has 7. The reason for this is that the many arches made the passages under the bridge relatively narrow, and as a result, quite a few boats crashed into the pillars and damaged them. Add to this the damage caused to the bridge during the First and Second World Wars and you can understand why during the XNUMXs the bridge had to be rebuilt.
The new Pont des Arts was inaugurated in 1984 and was almost identical to the original bridge, except for the number of arches, which was reduced to 7, to make it easier for boats to pass under the bridge. Parisians were happy to walk on the bridge again and everything went back to normal. But then the bridge was hit by a new blow.
From the Bridge of Arts to the Bridge of Locks and back
If there were a Nobel Prize for romance, I would recommend giving it to the first person to put a lock with his lover's name on the bridge railing and throw the key into the Seine. On the other hand, if there were a Nobel Prize for tastelessness, I would give it to the second person who did the same and to all those who came after him.
The lock epidemic began in Paris in 2008, and it should be remembered that it was not born there but was brought to the City of Lights like all sorts of troubles, such as the Black Thing or McDonald's. Over the six years that have passed since then, the bridge railings have been covered with some 700,000 locks, and eventually, in 2014, one of the bridge railings collapsed into the Seine.
To my great delight, the city of Paris responded quickly and efficiently. The bridge was temporarily closed, the railings were dismantled, and in their place were new, transparent railings that cannot be locked. Instead, you can hang pictures and paintings on these railings, ensuring you have a new exhibition every time you visit the City of Lights. The bridge finally lives up to its name – the Pont des Arts!
And the locks? Unfortunately, but to the delight of all those who have searched and are still searching for the “Bridge of Locks”, they have not completely disappeared from our lives. If you really insist, you can still find them near all kinds of bridges such as the Pont Neuf or the Pont de l'Archevêché and even at the top of Montmartre, near the Sacré-Cœur!
Today, the Pont des Arts serves as a kind of free stage for quite a few musicians who perform there for the enjoyment of passersby. They are joined by painters, who sit there for hours and paint the magical view from the bridge.
And finally, at almost all hours of the day you will find quite a few young people and loving couples there, who no longer put locks on the bridge but simply stand on it and kiss “in order to maintain the freshness of language and the purity of the tongue,” as Yair Garbuz wrote. As you can see, it’s not just the French Academy that deals with this 🙂
Von des Ars and its surroundings – information for travelers
Our historical journey ends on the Pont des Arts, and now comes the stage where you will surely want to receive a little practical information, which will help you plan your next trip to Paris.
Don't worry! I took care of that too. 🙂
How do you get to Pont des Ars?
In my opinion, the best way is to take line number 1, to the station the metro Louvre-Rivoli and from there walk to the bridge (about a five-minute walk).
We stand on the bridge and enjoy the view. What next?
Since the bridge connects the 1st and 6th arrondissements, you can visit any of these arrondissements. You can find a list of attractions, Itineraries And additional important information about each of these neighborhoods in the following two articles:
Is it possible to visit the French Institute Palace?
Unfortunately, you can only visit the palace itself during the “Heritage Days” (JOURNÉES DU PATRIMOINE) which take place on the third weekend of September. However, you can definitely enter the magnificent chapel where Cardinal Mazran is buried and visit its dome every day. Shabbat between hours 10: 00 to 18: 00.
If you want to see what awaits you there, you are welcome to take a look at this video:
Is it worth living in the vicinity of Pont des Ars?
The short answer is: Absolutely! There aren't many more central locations in Paris that allow you to easily hop between the Right Bank and the Left Bank and back. Furthermore, the streets behind the French Institute are very lively with quite a few galleries and restaurants in the immediate vicinity.
Here are some excellent (but not cheap) hotels not far from the bridge:
If you are looking for slightly cheaper hotels (even if they are a little further from the bridge), you are welcome to visit the article Recommended hotels in the 6st district If you are specifically looking for a vacation apartment, you are welcome to read the article. Vacation apartments in the 6th arrondissement.
As mentioned, every bridge has two sides, so it is also possible to live in the 1st arrondissement and be close to the bridge, although since the Louvre occupies the entire bank opposite the bridge, you will not be as close to it as you would be if you lived in the 6th arrondissement. Therefore, if you decide to live in the 1st arrondissement and be close to the bridge, let me recommend these hotels (which are also a little cheaper than those on the left bank):
- Sweet Inn – Admiral de Coligny
- Relais Du Louvre (A very nice place, I lived there before)
If you are looking for additional accommodations in the 1st District, you can find them in the articles Recommended hotels in the 1st district And Vacation apartments in the 1th arrondissement.
The romantic view of the Pont des Arts made us suddenly hungry. What do we do?
Don't worry! As I wrote in the previous section, south of the Pont des Arts and the French Institute, you will arrive Saint-Germain-des-PrésThere are quite a few excellent restaurants, so chances are you won't go hungry. You can find information about them in the article. Recommended restaurants in the Sixth District.
Thanks for an interesting article as usual. The beautiful video also made me feel like I was traveling there.
Thank you very much Pini 🙂
Thank you, thank you…I learned and enjoyed it very much.
FAV
Thank you very much 🙂