View source for Pont Ambroix

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox Bridge
|bridge_name   = Pont Ambroix
|image         = Ambrussum pont Ambroix.JPG
|caption       = Remaining arch of the Pont Ambroix
|official_name = 
|carries       = [[Via Domitia]]
|crosses       = [[Vidourle]]
|locale        = [[Ambrussum]], [[Languedoc-Roussillon]], [[France]]
|maint         = 
|id            = 
|designer      =
|design        = [[Arch bridge]]
|material      = Stone
|spans         =
|pierswater    = 
|mainspan      = 
|length        = 
|width         = 
|height        = 
|load          = 
|clearance     = 
|below         = 
|traffic       = 
|begin         = 
|complete      = 1st century BC
|open          = 
|heritage      =
|collapsed     = 
|preceded      =
|followed      =
|closed        = 
|toll          = 
|coordinates   = {{coord|43.7172|4.1519|region:FR|display=inline,title}}
}}

The '''Pont Ambroix''' or '''Pont d'Ambrussum''' (French for ''Ambrussum Bridge'') was a 1st-century BC [[Roman bridge]] in the south of France that was part of the [[Via Domitia]]. It crossed the [[Vidourle]] at [[Ambrussum]] between today's [[Gallargues-le-Montueux]] in the [[Gard]] department and [[Villetelle]] in the [[Hérault]] department.

In the [[High Middle Ages]], a chapel devoted to [[St Mary]] was added to the structure. Only one of the original eleven arches remains in the middle of the river.

Ambrussum contains three archaeological sites of international importance: the Colline de Devès which was first occupied in 2300 BC and settled as an ''[[oppidum]]'' between 300 BC and 100 AD; the Roman [[mutatio|staging post]] on the [[Via Domitia]] which had hotels, a baths and industrial buildings; and the Pont Ambroix.

The bridge was sketched by Anne Rulman in 1620 and the drawing shows only four arches. An 1839 lithograph and a painting by [[Gustave Courbet]] (1857) show two arches.

The Vidourlades are violent floods on the Vidourle, in which the water flow increases from a minimum of 3&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup>/s to over 3000&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup>/s. Floods were recorded 8 October 1723. The floods of 18 November 1745 reduced the bridge from four arches to three. Further major floods occurred 6 October 1812, 21 October 1891, 21 September 1907. The floods of 7 September 1933 reduced the bridge from two arches to the one we see today.

The site was abandoned when transit patterns changed; the Via Domitia became less important and the community relocated to [[Lunel-Viel]] which better served a north–south transit pattern, but the bridge continued in use until the late Middle Ages.

The bridge is a [[Base Mérimée|Mérimée list National Monument]] No. PA00103057.  The oppidum is Mérimée list National Monument No. PA00103760
<gallery>
File:Pons Ambrussi.JPG|In 1620
File:Pont d'Ambrussium-Lith-Thierry Freres.JPG|In 1839
File:Gustave Courbet, 1857, Le Pont d'Ambrussum, huile sur papier marouflé sur bois, 48 x 63 cm, Musée Fabre.jpg|In 1857
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[List of bridges in France]]
* [[List of Roman bridges]]
* [[Roman architecture]]
* [[Roman engineering]]

== Sources ==
* {{Citation
 | last = O’Connor
 | first = Colin 
 | title = Roman Bridges
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | year = 1993
 | isbn = 0-521-39326-4
 | page = 97 (G8)
}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Structurae|id=20002563|title=Pont Ambroix}}
* [http://www.poster-und-kunstdrucke.de/images/product-pics/artist/courbet/courbet_pont_dambrussum.jpg Painting of the bridge by] [[Gustave Courbet]]

{{Roman bridges}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambroix, Pont}}
[[Category:Roman bridges in France]]
[[Category:Deck arch bridges]]
[[Category:Stone bridges in France]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Gard]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Hérault]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Gard]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Hérault]]
[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in the Roman Republic]]