Pont-de-l'Arche, though now a small mean town, may boast of high
antiquity, if it be rightly believed to be the ancient _Pistae_, the
seat of the palace erected by Charles the Bald, in which that sovereign
convened councils in the years 861 and 869, and held assemblies of his
nobles in 862 and 864; and from which, his edicts promulgated in those
years, are dated. The same monarch also built here a magnificent bridge,
defended at one extremity by a citadel upon a small island.--From this
there seems every reason to believe that the town has derived its name;
for, in a diploma issued by our Henry IInd, he calls the place _Pontem
Arcis_; and its present appellation is nothing but its Latin name
translated into French. The fortress at the head of the bridge was
demolished about thirty years ago, at the time when Millin published
his[96] account of the town. The plate attached to that account,
represents one of the towers as still standing.--Though deprived of its
citadel, Pont-de-l'Arche retains to the present day its walls, flanked
by circular towers; and its bridge, which is the lowest stone bridge
down the Seine, is a noble one of twenty-two arches, through which the
river at a considerable depth below, rolls with extraordinary rapidity.
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