Rita Martínez, from the La Vanguardia Readers’ Network, published a photographic report at the beginning of February of the drought in the Sau reservoir, in which she announced the following: “If it doesn’t rain soon we will see the Sant Romà bridge.” But the days passed, the water level of the reservoir continued to drop and this structure of medieval origin still did not appear. It was quite a mystery.
Visitors to the swamp, increasingly numerous, could discover in amazement the cemetery of the old town that was swallowed in 1962 by the waters of the reservoir from the River Ter. They could also see the entire Romanesque church, walk through the ruins of the houses and even enjoy the castle-shaped structure of the mill. But what about the bridge?
“Are you sure you’re not getting confused with the Querós bridge that was already exposed in the nearby Susqueda reservoir?” some asked. But, it couldn’t be, because architecturally it is different from that of Sau and, according to historical photos, from the latter you could perfectly see the church of Sant Romà, from the 11th century, which today is within the municipality of Vilanova de Sau, in the Osona region.
The origins of Sant Romà de Sau take us back to the 10th century. At that time, although it was a small town, it had a few farmhouses, a few houses, a mill, and a Romanesque church. Furthermore, from the end of the 14th century it had a bridge, with five arches, which was the most notable of those that crossed the River Ter. And it is the one that now seems to be beginning to be seen.
Another of these bridges was the Querós bridge, built between 1532 and 1534 by the master of houses Joan Roig. The central part was rebuilt between 1696 and 1700 after it was damaged by a flood in 1617, known as the “aiguat del diluvi” (downpour of the flood). It was repaired again in the years 1940-1941. In 1967 it was definitively covered by the waters of the Susqueda reservoir, although with the current drought everything is visible.
Finally, with the Sau reservoir at 1.40% of its capacity, doubts have been dispelled, thanks to the mobilization of La Vanguardia readers. “The arch of the great Sant Romà bridge has now come into view,” announces Josep Soldevila when showing the photograph of it. He was not the only one to capture this historic image, although at first you cannot see the railing that was added at the top to facilitate passage. One explanation could be sediments. “You are already beginning to see the bridge that had not been seen for more than 60 years, although at the moment it appears with a lot of sediment on the large arch,” says Soldevila.
“Sau is already touching land and the Sant Romà bridge is beginning to appear,” proclaims Rita Martínez when also showing her photographs. Carme Molist has also captured images of the current state of the reservoir today and has shared them. And in one of these snapshots you can see the detail of the railing better.
For his part, Narcís Serrat has commented precisely in the last few hours on the mystery of where the Sant Romà bridge is with the scholar Xavier Roviró. This retired teacher was mayor of Folgueroles (2019-23), is president of the Folkloric Research Group of Osona and a member of the Board of Studies of the Osona Studies Board. “The bridge exists and is intact”, says Serrat, “it is of Gothic origin, it is important and now it will be the news with all the tourist interest that is generating the drought in the Sau swamp”.
“It is a beautiful bridge and it will be opened soon,” he insists, but “it is in the deepest place of the reservoir and the valley,” which is why it cannot be seen yet as other elements have already been discovered, such as the town’s old mill or the cemetery.
An important element as an indicator is that “railings were placed in the profiles of the high cornices.” As the hours have passed, this detail has been better appreciated in the first remains that have come to the surface. The first images that had been obtained indicated that “it may be a coating of sediment, since the railing has been under water for many years,” explains Serrat, “it may be that if we approached with a boat and fished, it would be covered and could “get out part of the railing.” It was not necessary, finally, a section of the railing has also been visible.
In any case, “everything will be seen when the water level drops even further and the large arches of the bridge and the round holes of its structure emerge.”
Another indicator that the bridge is beginning to come into view is that local researchers have begun to identify the remains of the large trees that were next to this infrastructure. “The branches are beginning to appear, the water did not knock them down,” explains Serrat.
This bridge in Sant Romà de Sau was one of the important ones, along with the one in Querós and the one in the old town of Susqueda. Of the latter, the structure that has come down to us originates from 1348, but it is submerged in the waters of this other swamp.
