Pont du Diable, Céret, France

The Pont du Diable (Devil's bridge) is a medieval stone arch bridge at Céret, built between 1321 and 1341. It spans the river Tech with a single arch of 45,5 metres.

According a legend, the locals wanted a bridge to be built across the river and called upon the devil to build it for them. The devil agreed on the condition that he would claim the first soul to cross the bridge. Once the bridge was built the locals sent a cat across for the devil to claim its soul. Then for many years afterwards no person would cross, just in case – a legend common to many devil's bridges in France.

At the time of its construction it became the world's largest bridge arch, being bigger than the Ponte della Maddalena in Italy which held the world record until then. It remained so until 1356, when the Castelvecchio Bridge in Verona became the new largest bridge. Damaged during the war of the First Coalition (1792-1797), French general Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert wanted to blow it up to keep the Spanish army from going back to Catalonia. The bridge was saved just before being destroyed thanks to the action of Representative Joseph Cassanyes and restored later.

User Reviews

Pamela Thorn (3 years ago)
Lovely little walk over the pont du diable and then back on the opposite modern bridge.

Judy Sutton (3 years ago)
Beautiful views of Beziers Old Town from the park on the far side of the river . Short walk from there to Canal du Midi

Gwendolina Leendertse (3 years ago)
Nice but not amazing place after a few minutes i saw it there are more beautiful bridges in France

Eilis O Neill (4 years ago)
Beautiful little village at foot of the mountains. Plenty to see, lovely to walk around. Some beautiful historic and cultural buildings and monuments.

Lars Sorensen (4 years ago)
Wonderful historical viewpoint. If you want a view on the bridge itself you can walk on the old railwaybridge it has a walking path. From this point three bridges cross the stream. It is a beautiful old bridge that brings you back to the past. Also has a interesting legend about how the bridge was made check wikipedia for that. ?

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Christian Lauw

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