Discover the Pont du Diable!
Nestled in the heart of wild landscapes, the “Devil’s Bridge” spans the Ariège river, giving free rein to the mystical imagination of the area. Do you dare to visit this legendary and architecturally magnificent site? Your Les Grottes campsite, near Tarascon-sur-Ariège, invites you to discover the Pont du Diable, located in the Pays de Foix region, less than 20 minutes by car from the campsite via the N20! Park in the parking lot before descending to the river in the cool undergrowth. As you discover the charm of the old stones on this key regional heritage site, let your imagination run wild: what could possibly be the origin of this Pont du Diable, also known as Pont Saint-Antoine? There’s something for everyone: romantic origins for romantic strolls, or historical origins for family outings!
A little history…
There are many “devil’s bridges” in France, a name often associated with tumultuous waves that may have claimed victims. This one is also known as Pont Saint-Antoine, after a nearby hamlet. But it might be more fun to take a look at what the legends have to say! One says that an inhabitant of the hamlet of Ginabat wanted to build a bridge to make it easier to reach the communes of Saint-Paul-de-Jarrat and Mercus-Garrabet, on the other side of the Ariège. The Devil, always ready to help, got involved and offered him a deal. In exchange for the magical construction of the building, he would take the soul of the first mortal to cross the bridge… Not wanting to so easily give a soul to the Evil One, the locals had an idea: they let a black cat cross first, who, poor thing, hadn’t asked for anything! The Devil, furious, fell into the Ariege and never returned. Another version of the legend, brought to us by Adelin Moulis, a writer specializing in the region, features a beautiful woman who became a hermit after being forced to prostitute herself for a time, and was the object of an attempt by the Devil to trap her back into Evil. Skilled and protected by Saint-Antoine, the woman managed to foil his ambush by giving him a coin, causing him to howl in pain and flee. Demons are said to have attempted to destroy the bridge to avenge their master, but the surrounding bells scared them off. If you look closely at the water flowing at the foot of the bridge, you may see demonic horns protruding from it!
Fall under the spell of the place
If you’d prefer a more down-to-earth explanation of the bridge’s origins, here’s one: the legends circulating about the Devil were better known than the real story of its origin, to the point that for a long time it was believed that the edifice had been built in the Middle Ages. A traffic sign even read “Pont du Diable, XIIIe siècle” (Devil’s Bridge, 13th century), until Jean-Jacques Pétris, an Ariège historian, revealed in 2010 after extensive research that the bridge actually dated from the 19th century. It doesn’t appear on land registers until the middle of the century, and the historian was able to learn that it was built on the initiative of an engineer, who wanted to test a new model of waterwheel intended for industrial use. In short, an improved mill model! Whatever its origins, this bridge over the Ariège has so much cachet that couples in love with the region come here to have their wedding photos taken: no reason why you shouldn’t also fall under the spell of the Pont du Diable!