Canal Saint-Martin

The Canal Saint-Martin is defined by its nine locks and its series of iron footbridges that arch over the water. Commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte in eighteen hundred and two, the canal was built to address a desperate public health crisis in a city where the Seine was both a drinking source and a sewer. By diverting water from the Ourcq River, the project aimed to bring fresh, clean water into the capital to fight off outbreaks of dysentery and cholera.