Pont Vell is the ancient bridge which crosses the Riu de Santa Eulària (Santa Eulària river), the only river on the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

island of

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

.Mapa Topografico Nacional de Espana, Santa Eulària des Riu 1:50.000. Published: IGN - CNIG (Spain Civilian Survey): 2006. The bridge stands next to the modern road bridge"579 Regional Map, Spain, Islas Baleares. Pub:Michelin Editions des Voyages, 2004, on the western approach to the town of

Santa Eulària des Riu Santa Eulària des Riu (, ) is a coastal town on the south eastern coast of the Spanish island of Ibiza. The town is located on the designated road EI-200. Santa Eulària is the third largest town on the island and also has the only river on th ...

. Today the bridges is only used as a footbridge with all other traffic restricted to the adjacent modern bridge.

History

''Pont Vell'' was an important strategic crossing and was once the only way into Santa Eulària from the west. Its origins are considered to be

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

. The Rome Empire had made Ibiza a Federatae Civitae.The History Buff's Guide to Ibiza. Author: Emily Kaufman. Published: Tarita, S.L. The island was never conquered by the Romans and during a gradual period of Romanization the island saw an economic golden age which lasted from approximately 25 BC and AD 75. It is thought that it was during this period the first bridge was built by the Romans to access the north east Canton of the island. The bridge that stands today is probably built on the foundations of the Roman bridge.Ibiza & Formentera's Heritage, A Non-clubber's Guide. Author: Paul R Davis Pub:Barbary Press, 2009, It has been estimated that this bridge was probably built in the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

The Legend of Els familiar

According to an ancient Ibizan legend there is a rather ugly bad tempered

pixie A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cor ...

that can be both good and bad. This pixie's appearance could only be conjured up by the picking and the instant bottling of a flowering herb which could only be found under the Pont Vell's arches. These herbs shelter the spirits of ''Fameliars''. The pixies were said to have only two aims during their apparitions: to work or eat. If you had a particular task which required some hard work, capturing one of the pixies was a good way to complete your job. The drawback was that if the work stopped, the pixie would then spend all its time eating. The legend dictates that to capture the ''Familiar'' you must first go under the bridge at first light on the day of the festival of Saint Juan (June 24) and collect the flowers of the herb, making sure that you pick the herbs quickly, as they can appear and disappear at a glance. Placing the crop in the black bottle the vessel should then be closed tightly. The bottle could then be kept and opened when hard work was required to be done quickly and properly. Once liberated, the ''Familiar'' will cry: "Soc es familiar, vull veina o menjar", which means "I am a ''Familiar!'' I would like work or food!" . The drawback of the releasing of this spirit is that if you do not give the ''Familiar'' work to do, it will eat you out of house and home. Although this story is a subject of myth, an unfortunate man from Santa Eulària was sent to prison by the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace o ...

in 1744. He had sworn under oath to owning a ''Familiar'' and that he knew of many people in the area who also had possession of the spirits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pont Vell, Santa Eularia des Riu Santa Eulària des Riu Roman bridges in Spain Archaeological sites in Ibiza History of Ibiza