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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Old Trier Bridge, located in the village of Trier (Gard, Occitanie), is a work of art built between the 16th and 17th centuries. It crossed the Trierzel, a river whose bed has gradually moved over the centuries. Composed of three arches in full hang, it was reinforced by sharp beaks at the upstream and downstream, and its parapet once carried a 17th century cross, now extinct. This bridge marked the entrance to the village, where a grant fee was charged for its crossing.

The history of the bridge is linked to the major road works of the Cevennes carried out at the end of the seventeenth century under the impulse of the Abbé du Laurans, royal commissioner. Although Trier is not mentioned in the quotations of 1689-1691 for the "royal paths of the Cevennes", it could date from the 16th or early 17th century, replacing an older ford. Its architectural features – arches in the middle of the hanger, sharp spurs, parapets in the back of the donkey – and its construction in stone d'apparatus reflect the techniques of the era. The cross overlooking the central pile, probably erected at the beginning of the seventeenth century, highlights its anchoring in the local religious and social landscape.

Ranked a historic monument by decree of 12 January 1931, the bridge is now owned by the commune. Its present state reveals the traces of the transformations of the territory, such as the displacement of the river bed, which flows only at the foot of the first arch. Although its original function has evolved, it remains a testament to the pre-modern communication networks and rural engineering of the Ancien Régime.

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