The three towers
Thirteenth-century stone over the water โ the oldest thing your eye touches in the city.
ignis โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Ralf Roletschek โ CC BY 3.0 ยท Flocci Nivis โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Jonathan Martz โ CC BY-SA 3.0
The wooden roofs sheltered defenders from arrows and rain; once artillery matured, timber became kindling rather than armour, and the eighteenth century took them off, leaving the bridges open as you see them.
The crossing is minutes โ but the whole knot (bridges, dam, Petite France edges) makes the standard half-hour-to-hour finale of the quarter's walk.
No โ long closed, exterior only. For climbing and views, the dam roof next door or the cathedral tower are the addresses.
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The Ponts Couverts are three bridges crossing the Ill's four arms at the entrance to Petite France, guarded by three square stone towers from the thirteenth-century city wall. The wooden roofs that named them came off three centuries ago โ the name proved tougher than the timber. This was Strasbourg's fortified water gate: whoever wanted the city by river passed beneath the towers' archers. Today it is the loveliest pedestrian crossing โ you walk it between timbered houses and rushing water, the dark-stoned towers overhead attesting the city's true age. They and the facing dam are an inseparable pair: walk the bridges, then climb the dam's roof behind them to see them whole in Strasbourg's most photographed image.
Thirteenth-century stone over the water โ the oldest thing your eye touches in the city.
The river splitting beneath you, timbered houses on both banks.
Roofs gone three centuries, name intact โ endearing Strasbourg stubbornness.
Ponts Couverts, 67000 Strasbourg