A little history of Petit-Pont
And also
The tops
40 metres long... this is Paris shortest bridge! And the oldest one, since it was first mentioned in Gallo-Roman time, when Paris was called Lutèce...
It was the only way to link the Cité district to the right side of the city. In 1185, Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, rebuilt it with wood.
1205's flood destroyed it and it was terrible: historian Guillaume Le Breton said that “the Petit-Pont collapsed, the water rose to the second floor of houses.” Finally, in 1410, they rebuilt a strongest bridge.
King Charles VI the Mad allowed people to raise houses on it: those houses were altered in 1552 and 1603. Oh, the brand new bridge seemed strong, but... an accident happened in 1718!
A boat crashed into a pier. Candles on the boat burnt the wooden houses... In the end, they rebuilt it with stone... The current bridge dates back to 1852.