The Roman Bridge of Pont-Saint-Martin
The single-arch bridge of the first century BC
At the entrance to the Aosta Valley from Piedmont, in the village of Pont-Saint-Martin, which takes its name from it, stands one of the most beautiful and best preserved Roman bridges in Italy: a bridge with a single arch, with a span of about 31 metres, built in the first century BC over the Lys stream, along the Via delle Gallie, the Roman road that connected the Po plain to Aosta and the passes of the Great and Little St Bernard towards Gaul. Built of large stone blocks, with an elegant and slender line, the bridge was used for traffic until the nineteenth century, when a new bridge was built nearby, and it is still crossed by pedestrians today, a testimony to the extraordinary skill of Roman engineers.
According to a famous legend, the bridge was built by the devil, who had made a pact with Saint Martin, bishop of Tours, who was passing through the valley and could not cross the stream in flood: the devil would build the bridge in one night, in exchange for the soul of the first living being to cross it. In the morning, Saint Martin threw a piece of bread on the bridge, and a dog ran over it to eat it, so the devil, outwitted, had to be content with the soul of the animal and fled in a rage. This legend is recalled every year during the Carnival of Pont-Saint-Martin, one of the oldest in the Aosta Valley, which ends with the burning of the devil's effigy under the bridge, among Roman characters in costume.
Tip: cross the bridge on foot and admire it from the banks of the Lys; come during Carnival to see the devil burned.
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