LE PONT NOTRE-DAME

14th century An essential link between the Barriville and Bourg districts, the Pont Notre-Dame or Grand Pont was for many years the only bridge over the Ornain. A pivot point between two districts, the bridge?s five ashlar arches were topped by numerous houses until the 18th century. The statue adorning its chapel survived the bombardments of the Second World War. Originally built of wood, the date 1311 later inscribed on one of the bridge's piers tells us when it was built. As in all towns at the time, houses were corbelled over the river to increase the available space and create a lively shopping street. After the Age of Enlightenment, in the interests of hygiene, these houses were gradually demolished. The last of them disappeared in the 20th century. To ease traffic flow, the humpbacked deck was lowered in 1883, then widened. A chapel, dedicated to Saint Anne and after 1645 to the Virgin, was built on the central pier. Rebuilt several times, always on a hexagonal plan, it was a stopover for the various processions through the town. It houses a statue of the Virgin Mary by François Humbert in the mid-17th century. The statue was taken from one of the gates in the town's ramparts. The 1950s stained-glass windows depicting Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary on the left and St. Joachim on the right are by Nantes-based master glassmaker Benoît. Until the construction of the Marne-Rhine canal, the Ornain was a tumultuous river that could only be navigated downstream of the ducal city. Heavy materials such as wood, floated in from the Vosges mountains, were hoisted onto boats shortly after the bridge was crossed, at Rue du Port. To protect the structure from the blows of the logs, the bridge piers were reinforced with beaks. Like all the others, the Notre-Dame bridge was destroyed in 1944, with the exception of its central pier.