COVERED BRIDGES
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These covered bridges, built between 1230 and 1250, are remnants of the fortifications that encircled the town from the century onwards.
Don't look for a roof, the Ponts-Couverts have not been there for a long time! Remnants of the fortifications that encircled the city as early as the 13th century, this series of three bridges over the Ill River and guarded by four square towers (originally used as prisons and numbering 5) allowed for the surveillance of the river accesses to Strasbourg. Built between 1230 and 1250 to defend the Ill from repeated attacks, the bridges were solidified in 1332 by masonry piles. Around 1570, iron portcullises were installed to prevent access from the river in case of danger. The bridges were then covered with roofs and wooden galleries. Between 1681 and 1688, the engineer Jacques Tarade built, according to the plans of a certain Vauban, a lock-bridge (known as the Vauban dam), a hundred meters upstream. Adapted to the military techniques of the time, this structure was used during the 1870 war to flood the area located upstream. The story does not end there, since the bridges were destroyed in 1784, when there was only a simple footbridge on piles. In 1865, the three sandstone bridges were rebuilt as we see them today. The observation tower offers a panoramic view of Strasbourg. In recognition of their architectural value and their bellicose past, the four towers (of the executioner, the lock keeper, Jean de Altheim and the French) were classified as historical monuments in 1928.
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