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Devil's Bridges

Yithian

Parish Watch
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East of Suez
Photography by Julian Herbrig:
ywm85qownan41.jpg

According to legend, these unique bridges were made with the help of the devil. But they all developed on their own in distinct European countries. In the majority of bridge narratives, there is a dose of enmity between the bridge builder and Satan. At first, the builder pursues a deal in which the Devil helps the bridge construction, and in return, the devil will claim the soul of the very first living being who happens to walk across the arch.

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Rakotzbrücke Author: A.Landgraf

The end of these stories are also predictable, as the builder always looks for a way to trick the devil. He usually lures an animal, maybe a dog, to cross the bridge and to save the life of a human. But the Rakotzbrücke legend supposedly ends bit differently. Upon completion of the bridge, it is the builder himself who walks the bridge and sacrifices his own life to Satan.

Most of the Devil’s Bridges in Europe were erected in the medieval days, or to be more exact, in the period between 1000 and 1600 AD. However Rakotzbrücke appears to be a bit newer than that. This bridge was completed in 1860, after its construction had been commissioned by local town authorities. The marvelous piece blends fieldstone and basalt in certainly one of the finest examples of its kind. In order to compose the basalt columns, the bridge builders needed to ship the material from far away quarries.


Extract From Full Article:
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/16/devils-bridge/
 
They are beautiful pictures. Amazing how such a 'thin' bridge stays together, too. And how they got it as the perfect half circle... I wonder how difficult that would be to achieve?

The article doesn't really say why the builder of this one walked across... presumably on purpose, knowing what would happen (if one believes the legend of course).

Interesting story though.
 
Stunning pictures theirs one at Kirby Longsdale, it supposedly as the devils foot print on the parapet
were he jumped off, you can still walk across it and in summer the kids on the way home from school
sometimes strip to underwear and jump off, it's a long way down and the first time I saw it I only noticed
due to the noise of them hitting the water.
 
Our very own Devil's Bridge here

1284ba01f1aaa450fe853dc242f3a324.jpg


It has the same legend that Yithian mentions - that an old woman tricks the devil by sending her dog over the bridge first although the truth is it was built by the monks from Strata Florida Abbey. Each successive bridge was built on top the previous one.
 
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Worth looking at different languages on wikipedia if anyone wants a list: the spanish wikipedia has a much longer list of devil's bridges in Spain, the Italian one the same for Italy, etc.
 
So it's not the unlikely shape that makes it a devil's bridge?
 
So it's not the unlikely shape that makes it a devil's bridge?

Apparently not - at least not always ... I've become confused trying to determine what is or isn't a "devil's bridge." In some cases / places it seems to be defined by the bridge's form or construction style, while in others it seems to be defined in terms of connections to local / regional folklore.
 
Worth looking at different languages on wikipedia if anyone wants a list: the spanish wikipedia has a much longer list of devil's bridges in Spain, the Italian one the same for Italy, etc.
Italy does seem to have a lot of them.
 
Our very own Devil's Bridge here

View attachment 24264

It has the same legend that Yithian mentions - that an old woman tricks the devil by sending her dog over the bridge first although the truth is it was built by the monks from Strata Florida Abbey. Each successive bridge was built on top the previous one.

That's awesome.
 
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Our very own Devil's Bridge here

View attachment 24264

It has the same legend that Yithian mentions - that an old woman tricks the devil by sending her dog over the bridge first although the truth is it was built by the monks from Strata Florida Abbey. Each successive bridge was built on top the previous one.
I visited there some years ago with the family. What a lovely spot.
 
We were there many years back, the steam engines were oil fired,
we had a run up to the bridge, stopped at the pub across from the
station and it pored down, when we got up the barrels were floating up
the cellar steps.
Had a good time though.
 
We were there many years back, the steam engines were oil fired,
we had a run up to the bridge, stopped at the pub across from the
station and it pored down, when we got up the barrels were floating up
the cellar steps.
Had a good time though.
Yes unfortunately anywhere west of the Cambrians is usually wet (second wettest part of the UK last time I looked). The driest time of the year for us used to be March, April and May but since CC kicked in that's all gone to shit now.
 
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