This astonishing Rooster Bridge

The bent Pont du Coq is a very curious construction. At the beginning of the 18th century, the earlier medieval bridge was destroyed by a flood on the River Levenza.

It was rebuilt in 1710 by masons named Cometto, father and son, from Lugano.

The rebuilt bridge is the one we still see today.

It features a large semicircular arch over the Levenza, with a large diameter of 14.20 m to cope with flooding.

On the right bank, an arcaded ramp links the present-day road (RD 43) and the bridge, crossing the floodplains at an angle of 110°. The left bank, on the other hand, is simply connected by an extension of the roadway.

The roadway has an extra width at the junction between the bridge and the north ramp, to facilitate the rotation of horse-drawn carts.

The structure is built of jointed rubble stone masonry, and the roadway is covered with a cobblestone calade, typical of the region. In addition, masonry parapets were added later to frame the roadway.

Its total length is 64 meters, the roadway is 2.60 meters wide and the main arch spans the river for 14 meters.

It was repaired in 1837, 1843 and 1906 following floods.

 

Legends associated with the Pont du Coq in La Brigue
One of the most popular legends is that, in the past, the village of La Brigue was regularly attacked by bandits descending from the mountains. The villagers decided to build a bridge to facilitate their escape in the event of an attack.

But they didn't have enough stones to build it, and the bridge was about to be abandoned. One morning, a rooster appeared in front of the construction site and began scratching the ground with its feet. The villagers, taking this as a sign, searched the spot where the rooster had been scratching, and found a large quantity of stones which were used to complete the construction of the bridge. Since then, the rooster has become the symbol of the bridge, in gratitude for his help.
A second legend tells of a dragon that once lived under the bridge and terrorized the inhabitants of La Brigue. They enlisted the help of a brave knight to defeat the dragon. The knight succeeded in killing it by stabbing it in the stomach with his sword. To this day, the Pont du Coq is considered a place where strength and courage are rewarded.
Finally, according to a third legend, Pont du Coq was once haunted by the spirit of a young girl who had drowned in the river. The villagers organized a ceremony to appease her spirit, during which a rooster was sacrificed. To this day, the bridge is considered a place of purification and reconciliation.

Another legend has it that the mason in charge of building the bridge was desperate not to find a solution for this complicated structure. The devil appeared to him and proposed a pact. The deal: if he could build the bridge before daybreak, the mason would have to give him his soul. At the end of the night, before the devil completed the work, the mason's mother lit a torch in her henhouse to make the rooster crow.

The devil fled and the mason, whose soul had been saved, completed his work.

 

Pont du Coq

Route de Morignole,

06430 La Brigue

 

https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/pont-du-coq-a-la-brigue/80588

 

 

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