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A little history of Flavien bridge

The bridge | Carole Raddato / CC-BY-SA
Gallo-Roman Bridge Flavien's bridge

A bridge for a great man

The bridge was named after the man who raised it in the 1st century.

A Roman priest who gave money for the construction of two triumphal arches, on the tips of a bridge linking the two banks of river Touloubre.

Besides, an inscription says:

L. DONNIVS C.F. FLAVOS. FLAMEN ROME ET AUGUSTI TESTAMENTO FIEREI IVSSIT. ARBITRATV C. DONNIEI VENAE ET C. ATTIEI RVFEI.


Which means: ″This bridge was raised by order of Donnius Flavus, Rome’s priest, by his executors Donnius Vena and Attius Rufus.″

It’s about 6 metres wide and 21 metres long. It has only one single semicircular arch: this one is 12 metres of diametre.

On the two arches (7 metres high), we can see lion statues on the entablature (one is genuine, the 3 others date back to the 17th c.).

Restorations

Our bridge was restored in the 18th century!

Sculptor Chastel made the work: a famous artist we already met in Aix-en-Provence, where he designed fountains of the place de l'Hôtel-de-Ville and place des Prêcheurs…

He had to re-make a paw for a lion (the antic one), replace the missing stones (with white stone from Calissanne, a quarry not far from Saint-Chamas, and yellow stone from Barbette)…

Architect Michel-Robert Penchaud also restored our bridge in the 19th century.

Did you know we also know this bridge as ″Surian bridge″, from the name of a consul in the 17th century who restored it, with his own money?

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!