Pont des Tuves
A bridge of 1802 with two names, one for each bank
The story
Before you is a bridge over the Siagne. On the Saint-Cézaire bank it is called the Pont des Gabres, on the Montauroux bank the Pont des Tuves. It was built in 1802; the department says it stands on the remains of a Roman bridge. It has a single arch, about twenty meters long and seven meters high, and its paved deck is only one meter seventy wide. For a long time it was the only way between the two banks. In 1978 the bridge was restored. Beyond it begins the Var department. The Siagne runs about forty-four kilometers, from Escragnolles to the sea at Mandelieu, and for a long stretch it divides the two departments. Its gorges cut almost four hundred meters into the limestone. The spring water by the bridge carries a lot of lime. As it settles, the lime turns into a porous stone called tufa. A small waterfall of it has grown by the bridge.
Visiting
It is slippery by the water and near the waterfall. Upstream there is an EDF hydro plant: the river can rise at any moment, even in good weather. Stay on the bank.
On the trail
- Pont des Tuves — 5 km there and back, 2 h 30 min
Sources
- Randoxygène, Alpes-Maritimes Department — “Pont des Tuves ou des Gabres” (5 km there and back, +320 m, 2 h 30, easy)
- Pays de Grasse Tourist Office — “Gorges de la Siagne et pont des Gabres”: a bridge of 1802 with two names
- Estérel Côte d’Azur, official routes — “Le pont des Tuves” from the Montauroux side: restored in 1978
- Wikipédia (FR) — Siagne: length, source, department border
- EDF — leaflet on the hydro plants near Saint-Cassien: water may be released into the river at any time
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