Czar Nicholas II, son of Alexander III, laid the first stone on October 18 1896, in the company of President Félix Faure, as part of the framework of the Franco-Russian alliance envisioned by Czar Alexandre III and President Carnot to counterbalance an increasingly powerful Germany.

The elegance of the bridge comes, in part, from its single low span of over 107 meters (351 feet) which preserves the magnificent view from the Champs-Elysées to the Invalides.

The ornamentation is particularly detailed: Monumental columns topped by gilded bronze Pegasus’s adorn each corner, representing France during different historical periods, and elegant triple-globed candelabras light the way across. The decorations on the vaulted keystones symbolize the Franco-Russian alliance, with the nymphs of the Seine upstream and those of the Neva downstream. Classified an historic monument in 1975, it is not only representative of the artistic exuberance of the time, but is also the first “pre-fabricated” bridge to be built across the Seine and sister to the Pont Mirabeau.