04 - George V Bridge

We are now facing the Loire, near the bridge. Since 1914, the Pont Royal has been called the Pont George V.

The medieval bridge falling into ruin, it was in 1751 that work began on the new bridge. Jean Hupeau was responsible for building the new Orléans bridge, 325 meters long. The old medieval bridge was located on your left facing the hotel.

In 1878, the Pont Royal carried rails for the first time on which the horse-drawn tramway cars ran. The line was electrified in 1899, but operations finally ceased on March 31, 1938 in favor of the bus.

Initially named Pont Royal in homage to the King, the bridge was renamed Pont George V in 1914 by Fernand Rabier, mayor at the time, to thank England and its commitment to the war of 1914-1918.

On June 16, 1940, the French partially dynamited the bridge to hamper the German army in its advance. A temporary footbridge was built by the enemy. On August 16, 1944, at the liberation of Orléans, it was the Germans who sabotaged the bridge. The restoration of the bridge began in September 1945 and was completed in 1946.

A Little History: After the Marquise de Pompadour crossed the Pont Royal to go to her castle in Ménars, a poet of the time wrote:

Censor of our bridge, you whose impertinence goes as far as temerity, Hupeau silences you with a single word. Very strong is its bridge, that day it carried the heaviest burden of France.

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