Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône
MonumentHidden Treasure
Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône, located in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 43.6806, 4.6298
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00081182
A spectacular vestige of Roman engineering, this bridge submerged in the Rhône at Arles bears witness to the power of Arelate, the provincial capital. Its submerged piers, two millennia old, still defy the river's current.
History
In the heart of the Rhône, between the two banks of Arles, lie the silent remains of one of the most ambitious hydraulic structures in Roman Gaul. The submerged bridge - or rather, what remains of it - bears striking witness to the technical mastery of the imperial engineers who, at the turn of our era, dared to tame one of the most powerful rivers in Europe. Invisible to the naked eye from the banks, this sunken heritage has fascinated archaeologists and divers for decades. What makes this site truly exceptional is its very nature: an invisible monument, a heritage from below, it exists only through the underwater excavations and archaeological surveys that are gradually revealing its extent. The opus incertum piers and carefully assembled blocks of Crau limestone bear witness to a colossal logistical effort. You can still make out, in the alignment of the foundation blocks, the trajectory of a bridge that was to cross several hundred metres of river, linking the two districts of a city that was then at the height of its glory. The visit here is as much an experience for the imagination as for the eye. From the quays of Arles, there is nothing to suggest the presence of these buried ruins. It is in the local museums - in particular the Musée Départemental Arles Antique - that objects brought back from the excavations, models and digital reconstructions give substance to this ghost bridge. The specialised divers who venture there describe a timeless atmosphere, where carved blocks emerge from the silt like the foundations of a lost city. The setting, however, is unforgettable: the great Rhône at Arles carries its green waters between banks where Roman ruins, medieval facades and the blond light of Provence mingle. To contemplate the waters from the Alyscamps or from the Boulevard des Lices is to understand why the Romans chose this precise spot to build their bridge: a natural ford, a strategic lock, a gateway to the Empire.
Architecture
The Roman bridge at Arles belongs to the large family of bridges with masonry piers from Imperial Roman architecture, comparable in design to the Pont du Gard and the Pont Flavien at Saint-Chamas. The piers, massive and elongated in the direction of the current, were designed to split the waters of the Rhône and resist flooding: their rostrum-shaped forebays, characteristic of Roman river engineering, divided the flow and reduced lateral thrusts on the masonry. The materials used reflect the local resources of the Arles region: Crau shell limestone for the facing blocks, pozzolan mortar for the filling cores, ensuring excellent water resistance. The estimated dimensions of the structure - a total length of probably between 300 and 500 metres, depending on which branch of the river had to be crossed - made it one of the longest bridges in Roman Gaul. The deck, probably made of oak wood on a framework, has disappeared completely, leaving only the stone foundations. The major technical feature of this bridge lies in its hydraulic foundations: Roman engineers mastered the art of building underwater thanks to pozzolan mortar, which is capable of setting in an underwater environment. It is precisely this quality that explains the remarkable preservation of the foundation blocks after twenty centuries at the bottom of the Rhône.
Related Figures
Jules César — fondateur de la colonie romaine d'Arelate en 46 av. J.-C., initiateur du développement urbain qui rendit nécessaire la construction de grands ouvrages d'artAuguste — emperor sous lequel fut entreprise la construction du pont, dans le cadre de la monumentalisation d'Arelate au début du Ier siècleAgrippa — général et gendre d'Auguste, grand organisateur des voies romaines en Gaule, dont la politique d'infrastructure bénéficia directement à ArlesConstantin Ier — emperor qui fit d'Arles l'une de ses résidences privilégiées au IVe siècle, attestant de l'importance persistante de la ville et de ses axes de communicationFernand Benoit — archéologue provençal du XXe siècle, pionnier de l'étude des antiquités arlésiennes et des vestiges romains immergés dans le Rhône
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône located?
Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône is located in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
Is Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône open to visitors?
Pont romain immergé dans le Rhône is currently closed to visitors.