ROCHEFORT



Vues anciennes

le bas de la ville: le pont de pierre


Photo © Jacques Verrees, détail.
Rochefort, le pont de pierre, la place du Baty, le château, vers 1825
Le pont de Behogne, à cinq arches en plein cintre, a été construit en 1758, remplaçant  un pont existant depuis le XVIe siècle. Il fût détruit en 1944.
Un mandement du prince Jean-Théodore fixe le "tarif du pont de Rochefort" le 12 avril.
"Again we entered a region of dense forest-land, in the midst of which, standing up from the dark green masses of foliage, we saw the royal château, one of the hunting-lodges of King Leopold, with its square white walls and pepper-pot turrets. Then we passed through a flourishing village, overlooked by a manor-house sort of château, not so neat, perhaps, as the villages in most parts of England, but with decent cottages, and full of contented and healthy-looking rustics. And, turning off the main road, we forded a musical, pebbly river, the water of which nearly covered the wheels of our carriage, and entered upon a mere track through a wild country, with occasional patches of cultivation, forded a second stream, and finally, after a journey of about four hours' duration, found ourselves in front of the Hôtel de la Grotte, in the village of Han."
 (Les grottes de Han, New monhtly magazine, 1865)




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