Pont-Vieux – The Old Bridge

We’ll now cross the Pont-Vieux, the Old Bridge, over the Aude river. It’s been the link between the two halves of the city for centuries. For a very long time, it was the only way to get to the medieval citadel from the lower town. There’s evidence of a bridge here since Roman times, though the first official record we have is from 1184. But the Albigensian Crusade most likely led to the destruction of this earlier bridge. When Carcassonne was annexed to the crown, the king drained the marshes, tore down the town at the foot of the ramparts and even diverted the flow of the river. Most importantly, he forced the locals out of the city, making them settle across the river in what’s now the lower town, the Saint-Louis Bastide. That’s when they rebuilt the Pont-Vieux, sometime in the first half of the 14th century. It surely wasn’t constructed in one go, which explains why the arches aren’t all the same size. They likely built it in stages based on the resources available. Two of the arches even collapsed in 1456, but they were quickly repaired. Some other parts were also remodeled in 1559, but overall, the bridge retained its original look for centuries. In the 19th century, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc redesigned and restored it, as he did for the rest of the city. That’s how the current edifice came to be, albeit slightly different from the original. Yet it still features 12 arches, stretching over 225 meters, leading us straight to the lower town. It was listed, of course, as a historical monument in 1926!