Guardian of the Gorge: The Devil's Bridge and Its Eerie Legends
Bridging the Supernatural: I was looking down from the bridge. A man passing by in his car turned back and came to me. What are you doing here, my lady? Are you okay? Please don't jump off the bridge
Varallo is one of my favorite towns to visit when I need a walk. There are interesting tourist attractions, like Santo Monte di Varallo, but the town itself is very nice and beautiful. It is too far from the town where I live, more than an hour on the mountain roads by car. It's not that I don't like this journey, but it's still quite tiring. I think Formula 1 drivers would be no better than me if they had to travel around these curves for two to three hours at a time.
After visiting the town, I decided to take a walk in a valley that I had never explored before.
As you can see, the weather was not very good. Luckily, it wasn't raining. There are infinite hiking trails everywhere in this zone. On my map, I found a circular route (I always prefer circular routes) that passes two footbridges: From Barattina to Ponte della Gula. When you see the road to Cervarolo, before the bridge, there is an antique footbridge.
In the Alps, there are many ancient bridges, even from the Roman era. I don't know, maybe even earlier. But I must say that these have another interesting history: they belong to the descent of the Walser people in the 12th century and, therefore, are decidedly medieval.
This is another story of human survival in extreme conditions — like those of the Amalfi Coast or Venice. These Germanic tribes came to the territory that currently belongs to Italy. They occupied the high parts of the mountains where nobody wanted to live (one village was more than 2000 meters above sea level), but where there were rich mountain pastures.
Germans are known for their industriousness and when you visit their villages here in the Alps, the museum villages (they are there, yes), you are always amazed at how logically everything is created. One of these museums is in Alagna, not too far from Varallo.
The new arrivals needed to communicate with the people who lived in the valley, they had to buy food and tools. For this reason, the mountains are crossed by a dense network of paths and mule tracks, which are often still used by the population and also maintained for hikers.
The first bridge I visited this time is located near Barattina. I left the car in the village and went around the old and new bridge. The photos in this period are not very colorful because the brown of the winter foliage prevails, but on the other hand, you can still see the buildings well.
Much more impressive is the Gula bridge, which is located a few kilometers from Barattina. This bridge is certainly very ancient. This can also be seen in this interesting donkey hump shape.
The Walser community has created a network of paths called Walserweg (https://www.walserweg.it/en/) which was inaugurated last year. The bridge is part of that network. I hope I can do at least some stretches as well.
Gula Bridge was once the only road that brought the villagers down the valley. The very narrow path passed right above the gap between the two rocks. We know it because it was told by Federico Tonetti in 1895 in his book. Today you can see a part of the path near the bridge, but it is no longer passable.
Perhaps because it was so dangerous, there are legends linked to the place. Like all similar “Devil's Bridges”, it is said that the devil proposed to the inhabitants to build the bridge in one night. On the other hand, he wanted the soul of the first person who crossed it.
A very cunning hermit agreed, but the next day he let a dog cross the bridge. The offended devil hid under the bridge and has been scaring passers-by ever since, waiting for someone to fall off.
The distance to the water is 35 meters under the bridge. It was restored in 1937 and during this restoration, they found a stone with a figure: 721. It is very unlikely that this is the date of construction also because the first Walser did not come to these places before the 9th century.
I was looking down from the bridge when a man passing by in his car turned back and approached me. “What are you doing here, my lady? Are you okay? Please don't jump off the bridge,” he asked me very seriously. I was surprised. I was in a public place and not doing anything wrong. Yet, this man stopped in a location where hardly anyone passes by just to talk to me… He understood my confusion. “Don't worry, I don't want to harm you. Don't be afraid. This place has a bad reputation: many people come here to commit suicide. I stopped because I was worried that you might be searching for the best spot to jump off, and I wanted to console you…”