Ponte del Diavolo (The Devil's Bridge)
The Park's pivotal point is the medieval Ponte del Roch, or Ponte del Diavolo.
Its building was decided on 1st June 1378 by the Council of Lanzo, assembled in the Church of St. Onofrio and chaired by the lord of the castle Aresmino Provana. In order to face the expense of 1,400 florins, a toll on wine was imposed for ten years.
The bridge connects Mt. Basso and Mt. Buriasco, in a deep gorge with vertical cliffs dug by the Stura stream, which used to form a vast lake in the Germagnano plain. It is extremely valuable from an architectural and historical point of view, and is admired and studied still today: the humpback bridge is 65 metres long, 15 metres high, 2.27 metres wide, and has a single span of 37 metres.
In 1564 the Council of Lanzo ordered to build a door on the bridge, since they feared plague contagion from nearby areas.
Many legends sprung up around the daring structure, whose building was attributed to the devil.
