THE BRIDGE OF GOD

Location
In the center of Ponoare, about 5 km
southwest of Baia de Aramă and 62 km
north of Drobeta Turnu Severin, the
Bridge of God or the Natural Bridge, as
it is said, is a huge stone archway that
runs along the Baia de Arad - Drobeta
Turnu Severin road, crossing the
Pragului Valley.
Geography History
In the immediate vicinity of the bridge there is the
Cave of the Bridge or the Cave of Ponoarele. It is It was formed by the collapse of
734 meters long and represents a first drainage of the upper wall of the cave and is
the water between Zăton and the basement sieved imposed in the landscape by mass:
by the galleries on which this locality is located. 30 meters long, 13 meters high, 22
The cave is located just below the hill that bears its meters wide and 9 meters wide. The
name, representing the only connection between bridge can be admired in all its
Zătonul Mare and Zătonul Mic, made grandeur from the Cave Crovul,
underground. Just next to the bridge are the karst from where the opening to the
lakes Zătonul Mare and Zătonul Mic. Zătonul Prague Valley and its sheltered
Mare arrives in the rainy times to have a depth of structure made up of superimposed
20 meters and an area of almost 2 square limestone blocks exposed to erosion
kilometers. And in summer, all the water is and weather are revealed. Viewed
swallowed by the galleries from the Bulba Cave from the opposite side, from the
and the dry lake. Between the bridge and the Turkish Valley, the Bridge imposes
Zătonul Mare we find an area with Lapiezuri. itself like a huge, stony arch, below
These are limestone ridges eroded by water. which you can admire the Cave
Virtually an entire hill is adorned with ditches and Hill.
ridges of limestone forming two distinct fields:
Cleopatra's Field and Aphrodite's Field.
Legend
From the elders it is said that the Devil lived here, people praying to God to get rid of
him. Then, God, slammed into the ceiling of the cave, where the Devil lived, which
collapsed over the entrance. But the Devil escaped, coming out on the other mouth of the
cave and clinging to the claws of the Hill of the Cave. The devil would then climb a rock,
named after him: The Rock of the Devil. Another legend says that the bridge was built by
God for Saint Nicodemus to pass through Tismana after the people drove him out of the
village, putting a hen with a cut throat, a bread and a knife, accused him of theft. By 1370,
the monk was looking for a waterfall that was shown to him in a dream and above which he
had to build a monastery. From Ponoarele he went to Tismana, where he built the monastery
(Tismana). Before he left, he cursed the water at Ponoarele, to be without fish and to
swallow the earth. And that's exactly what happened, because 8 mills were built during it,
and no fish lives in it.
Nistor Ștefania, Liceul Teoretic ,,Avram Iancu”, Cluj-Napoca, România