Ponts Couverts

The Ponts Couverts, or covered bridges, are three bridges and four towers across branches of the Ill river in the Petite France quarter of Strasbourg. They were built in the thirteenth century as part of the city's defences, when the bridges were roofed with wooden covers and the towers guarded the western approach to the Grande Île. The covers have long since disappeared, since the wooden roofs were removed in the eighteenth century, but the name stuck, and the stone towers still rise high above the water as a reminder of the city's walled past.

The four towers were once used as prisons and as part of the city's military works, and their thick walls and small windows still show it. Today they are a popular viewpoint over the canals and half-timbered houses of the quarter, once home to tanners, millers and fishermen, who used the waterways to power their trades. A short walk across the bridges takes you from the narrow lanes of Petite France to the open banks on the other side, and from the middle of the span you see the towers reflected in the slow green water.

Just upstream, the Barrage Vauban, a long covered dam built in the late seventeenth century as part of the fortifications designed by the military engineer Vauban, adds a second layer to the story. Its terrace gives one of the best views of the Ponts Couverts and of the old town, with the spire of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg in the distance. The building is used for exhibitions from time to time, and the terrace has its own, more limited, opening hours than the bridges, which can be walked at any time.

The area is at its best early in the morning, before tour groups arrive, or in the evening when the lights come on. Boat trips on the Ill pass under the bridges and through a lock, and offer another angle on the towers. In winter, the quarter is part of the city's Christmas market trail, and the Marché de Noël fills the streets nearby.

Visiting takes under an hour on its own, so combine it with a walk through Petite France, a stop at the Musée Alsacien and the cathedral on Place Kléber's side of the old town. It suits photographers, families and anyone interested in medieval fortifications, and costs nothing to see from outside.