Pont Vieux

About

The Old Bridge is an old bridge that crossed the Garonne in Toulouse. It was built at the beginning of the first century to cross the river, but also to supply water to the Gallo-Roman city of Tolosa. On the left bank of the Garonne, the waters of several sources were collected along the first geological terrace of the Garonne, on the terroir of Lardenne, by an underground aqueduct up to a water castle.

The aqueduct is then flown for several kilometers before crossing the Garonne to reach, on the right bank, the heart of the city, at the location of the current Rouaix square. It is probably built of stone and brick masonry. The bridge is, despite the destructive floods of the river and although it loses its function as an aqueduct, maintained throughout the Middle Ages: it remains until the third quarter of the 12th century the only bridge that allows to cross the Garonne.

From that date it was gradually replaced by a new bridge built further downstream, the Daurade Bridge. It was gradually abandoned and stopped being repaired from the end of the 15th century. It was at the same time that legend attributed its construction to a queen...