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Origin and history

The Camisards Bridge, also known as the Mialet Old Bridge, is a stone structure built in the 17th and 18th centuries to cross the Gardon on the town of Mialet, in the Gard. Although its name evokes the War of the Camisards (1702-1704), it was actually built between 1714 and 1717, more than a decade after this conflict, without direct connection to it. Ranked a historic monument in 1974, it is distinguished by its five uneven arches in the middle of the hanger and its apron in the back of the donkey, characteristic of the old bridges of the region.

According to the columnists of the Camisard War, the bridge would have been the scene of a confrontation in 1704 between the Camisard leader Pierre Laporte (known as Rolland) and the royal troops, long before its reconstruction. In 1717, the assembly of the Diocese of Alais decided to rebuild the building by preserving the old piles, but by making vaults, apron and pavement. The third pile, with its spur rising up to the parapet, would be the only vestige of the primitive bridge, prior to this reconstruction.

Architecturally, the bridge combines defensive (smelter) and practical elements (slope pronounced on the country side, pedestrian shelter). Its stone walls and arches illustrate the construction techniques of the era. Owned by the municipality of Mialet, there remains a major testimony of local history and religious conflicts that marked Languedoc in the early eighteenth century.

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