Paris - Pont d’Alexandre III - 7me

Plate LIII - Detail of the Pont Alexandre III… 

Ornate, extravagant, gaudy, exuberant, excessive, showy, remarkable, opulent, lavish, magnificent, flashy, kitsch, over-decorated, and delightful. These are all descriptions I have heard applied to the Pont d’Alexandre III.  And, somehow they all fit - without any contradiction. Personally, I love it.

There is no question that the decoration on Alexandre III is the most memorable of any Parisian bridge, with its Beaux Arts styled lampposts, glistening gilt statuary and sculptures of cherubs and nymphs. As mentioned previously, beneath the ornamentation it is also a notable feat of engineering. The foundation stone of the bridge, named after his father the Russian Tsar Alexander III, was laid by Tsar Nicholas II in October 1896. Although Alexander showed sympathies toward France during the Franco-Prussian war, and was emphatically a man of peace, it was only in the latter years of his reign that he established cordial relations with the French, and this was probably more a result of his increasing alienation from Germany than a genuine wish for alignment with a country he is reported to have regarded as a breeding ground for revolution. Nevertheless, his memory is enshrined in this (choose your adjectives) city landmark.