Devil's Bridge

In an age of steel, bolts and rivets, it's inspiring to witness an architectural marvel of natural material that speaks to the ingenuity of humankind.

This is the case with the "Devil's Bridge" in Italy, one of thirty such marvels to be found in Europe that through the centuries have spawned legends of all kinds.

Our story is about one such bridge; but the tale is similar for other European structures of this type. This particular arched bridge is found in the Piemonte region of Italy, in the mountainous Lanzo area, and is known as "Ponte del Roc," but more familiarly in Italian as "Ponte del Diavolo."

The bridge spans the Stura River and was built in the late 1300s along what was then an old mule trail that descended from the Alps to the city of Torino in the Po River Valley. The bridge rises above the level of the water in a curved peak 15 meters high, providing travelers a sturdy passage from Mount Buriasco to Mount Mombasso on the other side. It's not wide, maybe eight feet across, wide enough for loaded animals to cross in opposite directions, but not much more than that.

The land here is treacherous and the gorge makes the masonry span look miraculous. It's made of stone and looks as sturdy today as when it was completed. Near the middle, it has a tall, arched gate which used to have a wooden door in it. A sentinel was mounted to guard it day and night during medieval times. Soldiers would close the gate and block movement during times of plagues and war.

Numerous legends have swirled around this bridge like the water that flows fast and gurgles in the rock potholes below it. When I first saw it, it's peaked and Gothic look made me first think of the Dracula legend rather than Lucifer. How did it come to be known as "Devil's Bridge?"

The most famous of these stories claims the devil himself built the bridge in a single night in exchange for the sacrificial soul of a local resident. However, a more likely explanation relates to something just as certain as death itself: taxation. When the bridge was built, the local authorities in 1377 decided to impose a tax on wine to help pay for the bridge. They decreed that the wine tax should remain in effect for a period of 10 years. To this proposition, local residents are said to have responded: "To hell with the bridge!" (The Italian phrase was, "Al diavolo il ponte.")

The tax stayed.

Whatever the legend, "Devil's Bridge" has stood the test of time, through winter freezes and summer heat. To the hikers and mountain bikers who use it today, it remains a steadfast reminder that age-old construction methods were impressively reliable and that the resulting structures were elegant, too.

I'm not sure I'd want to be left alone there at night, though.

For more information on some of these devil bridges in Europe, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D evil's_Bridge

Learn more about this author, Pathseeker.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Travel destinations: Devil's Bridge, Piemonte, Italy?
We want to hear your view. Write now!