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Origin and history

The Roman bridge of Chantelle, located in the department of Allier (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), is a building in ruins dating back to the Gallo-Roman period or the Middle Ages. It once crossed the Bouble, but a change of course of the river in the seventeenth century isolated it in the open field, about 100 meters from its current bed. Composed of three stone arches (3 m, 8 m and 6 m opening), it retains traces of paving in pebbles and cement, although its parapets have disappeared. Its name "Neuf Bridge" until the 19th century suggests a reconstruction or historical confusion.

The Gallo-Roman hypothesis is based on the proximity of Cantilia (Chantelle-la-Veille), a road node mentioned on the map of Puisinger in the second century, where a five-arched bridge would have existed before being carried away by a flood in 1210. During the construction of a neighbouring bridge in 1840, ancient foundations and Roman medals (at the effigy of Domitian and d'Agrippa) were discovered, reinforcing this theory. However, historian Marcel Prade would lean for a medieval origin, arguing for the improbability of two close contemporary bridges.

The bridge was listed as a historic monument in 1928, although it is now on private land. In 1648, a flood of the Bouble changed its course, leaving the bridge dry in the middle of the fields, as Abbé Boudant described it in 1862: "Three svelt arches ... seem to want to resist for a long time to come." Its current state shows traces of spurs on the piles and a block of bellows in the vaults, while its original pavement remains partially. The debates on its exact date persist, between Roman heritage and medieval reconstruction.

Archivistic sources (Merimée, Monumentum) confirm its classification as "ancient Roman bridge", with an approximate location near the D987, at the place called the Eaux-Salées. Its geographical isolation and its state of conservation make it a rare testimony of old construction techniques, although its access is restricted because of its private property.

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