Pont du Diable (Hérault)

Saint-Jean-de-Fos
Pont du Diable (view upstream)

Saint-Jean-de-Fos
Pont du Diable (view from the shore)

Saint-Jean-de-Fos
The New Bridge

The Pont du Diable ( German : Devil's Bridge ) or Pont du Gour noir near Saint-Jean-de-Fos is a two-arched stone bridge from the 11th century and is located in the south of France .

The structure spans the Hérault River at the end of a gorge near the town of Saint-Jean-de-Fos in the Occitanie region of southern France , Hérault department .

history

For centuries the pilgrimage route led across the bridge from the monastery founded by Benedict von Aniane in 780 in the municipality of Aniane, southeast of Saint-Jean-de-Fos, to the tomb of the patron saint Wilhelm von Gellone in the municipality of Gellone, upstream to the north. Soon after his death Wilhelm was highly venerated and his grave is still an important stage for the pilgrims on the Via Tolosana , one of the French sections of the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela . With the canonization of Wilhelm (French: Saint Guilhem ) in 1066 and the accompanying increase in the flow of pilgrims to his grave, Gellone became known under the new name Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert .

The old bridge has been closed to vehicle traffic since 1932; pedestrians can still walk on it. The vehicles are now driving over a newly built bridge that offers a much-used view of the Pont du Diable.

The Pont du Diable near Saint-Jean-de-Fos was listed as a Monument Historique in 1935 .

Since 1998, the bridge is as part of the World Heritage of UNESCO St. James in France marked.