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

Judy Sutton (2 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 (2 years ago)
Nice but not amazing place after a few minutes i saw it there are more beautiful bridges in France

Eilis O Neill (3 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 (3 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. ?

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Roman Moško

Historic Site of the week

Trencín Castle

Trenčín Castle is relatively large renovated castle, towering on a steep limestone cliff directly above the city of Trenčín. It is a dominant feature not only of Trenčín, but also of the entire Považie region. The castle is a national monument.

History of the castle cliff dates back to the Roman Empire, what is proved by the inscription on the castle cliff proclaiming the victory of Roman legion against Germans in the year 179.

Today’s castle was probably built on the hill-fort. The first proven building on the hill was the Great Moravian rotunda from the 9th century and later there was a stone residential tower, which served to protect the Kingdom of Hungary and the western border. In the late 13th century the castle became a property of Palatine Matúš Csák, who became Mr. of Váh and Tatras.

Matúš Csák of Trenčín built a tower, still known as Matthew’s, which is a dominant determinant of the whole building.

Pont du Diable

Address

Details

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historical Gems of Costa Verde

Historic Site of the week

Trencín Castle