The Pont de l'Alma is a road bridge over the Seine in Paris, a short walk upstream from the Eiffel Tower. Its best-known feature is the stone Zouave, a soldier statue on its pier that Parisians have used for generations to judge how high the river is rising.
Pont de l'Alma at a glance
- Where: between the Quai Branly on the Left Bank (7th arrondissement) and the Avenue de New-York and Place de l'Alma on the Right Bank.
- Built: the first bridge in 1854–1856, inaugurated by Napoleon III on 2 April 1856; the present bridge replaced it in 1970–1974.
- By: the Zouave statue is by the sculptor Georges Diébolt.
- What it is today: a busy road bridge, 153 metres long and 42 metres wide, with views of the Eiffel Tower and river boats passing below.
- Time needed: 15 to 30 minutes, including a look at the Zouave from the riverbank and the Flame of Liberty on the Right Bank.
A bridge named after a battle
The bridge takes its name from the Battle of the Alma in 1854, the first major battle of the Crimean War, won by the French, British and Ottoman allies against Russia. Work began the same year, and Napoleon III opened the stone arch bridge in April 1856. Each side of its two piers carried a statue of a soldier from a regiment that had fought in Crimea: a Zouave and a grenadier by Georges Diébolt, and a light infantryman and an artilleryman by Auguste Arnaud.
By the 1960s the old bridge was too narrow for the traffic, it had sunk by some 80 centimetres and it held back water during floods. Between 1970 and 1974 it was replaced by a steel bridge with a single pier. Only the Zouave stayed in Paris, now on the new pier; the grenadier went to Dijon, the infantryman to the Gravelle redoubt in the Bois de Vincennes and the artilleryman to La Fère.
What to look for
- The Zouave: the soldier in a short jacket, baggy trousers and turban-like headgear, standing against the bridge's single pier. Look at where the water reaches him.
- The view of the Eiffel Tower: from the middle of the bridge you get a classic view of the tower over the river, especially at dusk.
- The Flame of Liberty: on the Right Bank end, a full-size copy of the flame of the Statue of Liberty, given in 1987 by the International Herald Tribune as a symbol of Franco-American friendship.
- Place Diana: the small square around the Flame, named after Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in 1997 in a car crash in the road tunnel just beside the bridge. People still leave flowers and messages here.
- The river traffic: the Bateaux-Mouches sightseeing boats leave from the Right Bank quay right next to the bridge.
The Zouave and the floods
Parisians have long used the Zouave as an unofficial flood gauge. When the water reaches his feet, the riverside paths are usually closed; when it reaches his thighs, boats can no longer pass. In the great flood of January 1910 the Seine rose to his shoulders. The authorities actually measure the river at the Pont d'Austerlitz, but whenever the Seine floods, the news photos still show the Zouave.
Tips for your visit
- Walk down to the Left Bank quay to see the Zouave at water level; from the road on the bridge you only see the top of him.
- Come at sunset or after dark, when the Eiffel Tower is lit and sparkles for a few minutes every hour.
- Place Diana is an informal memorial: be respectful and leave the flowers and notes as they are.
- Cross the bridge on foot rather than stopping on the road: traffic is heavy and the pavements are the safe place for photos.
Nearby
- Eiffel Tower: about 10 to 15 minutes' walk downstream along the Quai Branly.
- Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac: the museum of the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, with a wall covered in plants, just along the Left Bank quay.
- Palais de Tokyo and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris: two museums of modern and contemporary art in one building, a few minutes up the Avenue de New-York.
- Avenue Montaigne: the street of the great fashion houses, starting at the Place de l'Alma.
See Paris with World City Trail
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If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour of Paris and an outdoor escape game in the city.
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Facts checked in October 2026.