The bridge of God in the village of Ponoare, Mehedinti, near Baia de Arama town, is a special natural monument, considered by many to be a miracle of nature. With a length of 30 meters, the bridge at Ponoare is the largest natural bridge in Romania and the second largest in Europe. Such natural bridges still exist in the United States of America and France, but the one in Romania is the only one open to road traffic, including heavy tonnage.
The bridge was formed as a result of the ceiling being removed from a cave. Over the millennia, water has seeped through the limestone soil, succeeding in cutting and climbing the upper wall of this cave. Today, the floor structure of the natural bridge at Ponoare, consisting of overlapping limestone blocks, subject to erosion and weather, looks like a huge arch, hardened over time. The bridge was declared a natural monument in 1950.
The peculiarities of the relief, with its caves, bridges, lakes and rocks, have given birth, over the years, to many local stories and legends. Most of these legends, which have almost always been at the center of the battle between Good and Evil, explain the formation of different strange forms or curious phenomena.
The most famous legend regarding the formation of the Bridge of God from Ponoare, transmitted orally from generation to generation, has as protagonists God and the Devil. It is said that in the cave of Ponoare lived the Devil, who quietly dealt with his wickedness and misdeeds and terrorized the locals. One day, fed up with the problems the Devil was facing, the people near the cave asked God to get rid of it. God, listening to their prayer, thought of a plan to chase the Devil away. Suddenly, God descended to the earth, and the scared Devil entered the cave to hide in the darkness there. Then God hit the ceiling of the cave, crashing it over the entrance. The devil, knowing God’s plan, slipped through the ruins to the back of the cave and escaped through the second exit.
Angry that he was chased out of his cave, the Devil clung to the cliff above it (Cave Hill) and scratched all the stones on the other side of the slope. Thus he formed the two fields of pebbles: the Field of Aphrodite and the Field of Cleopatra. The devil would have then climbed a rock, named after him – the Rock of the Devil. It is said that to this day, the Devil looks on his rock at the people who visit the place, but can not, however, resume his residence.
In fact, lapies fields are eroded limestone ridges, over time, of water. Basically, the entire hill above the Ponoare Cave is littered with ditches and limestone ridges that form two different fields: Field of Cleopatra and Field of Aphrodite’. Probably the beauty of the landscape made the two fields of lapies named after true symbols of beauty.
The Ponoare area has a valuable tourist potential. Here, passers-by and tourists have the chance to enjoy in a space quite restricted by the variety of relief shapes, the beauty of the landscape and the charm of the legends.
Bibliography:
• Dumitru Borloveanu, “Legends about the Bridge of God (Ponoare – Mehedinți)”, September 2016, https://limbaromana.org/revista/legende-despre-podul-lui-dumnezeu-ponoarele-%E2%80%93-mehedin%C8%9Bi/
• Oana Ologu Neagoe, “The bridge of God and the land of legends from Ponoarele”, < https://turismistoric.ro/podul-lui-dumnezeu-si-taramul-legendelor-de-la-ponoarele/ >
• Alexandra Georgescu, “Legends of the God Bridge from Ponoare – one of the three natural bridges in the world. How God drove Aghiuță out of the cave in the village ”, March 6, 2015, https://adevarul.ro/locale/turnu-severin/legendele-podului-dumnezeu-ponoare-unul-cele-trei-poduri-naturale-lume-la-alungat-dumnezeu-aghiuta-pestera-sat-1_54f99213448e03c0fd49c54b/index. html
• Tomi Tohăneanu, “How was the Bridge of God formed near the Copper Bath? Scientific explanations of the place where, say the legends, there was a great battle between Good and Evil ”, September 29, 2016, http://www.cunoastelumea.ro/cum-sa-format-podul-lui-dumnezeu-de-langa-baia-de-arama-explicatii-stiintifice-privind-locul-unde-spun-legendele-sa-dat- a-sea-battle-between-good-and-bad /
• Florin Arjocu, “The Bridge of God from Ponoarele, Mehedinti”, December 22, 2009, http://drumliber.ro/podul-lui-dumnezeu-de-la-ponoarele-mehedinti/