During the 16th century, the only way to cross this section of the river was via a rudimentary ferry. A wooden bridge was built in the 17th century but it did not withstand the capricious Seine floods. Louis the 14th persuaded Jules Hardouin Mansart, famous for the Palace of Versailles, to construct a stone bridge to encourage development in the city’s Saint-Germain neighborhood.

After the Revolution, the bridge was successively called the Pont National, the Pont des Tuileries, named after the gardens of the Louvre, and then the Pont Royal once again. It is one of the three oldest bridges in Paris, along with the Pont-Neuf and the Pont Marie and well, deserving its status as an historical monument.