Legend has it that the elders of the village of Lanzo wanted to build a bridge over the Stura to shorten the access road to the village and make communication easier, but every attempt to build that bridge foundered due to various misfortunes.
They decided on the hour to make the classic deal with the Devil who would build the bridge in exchange for a soul. And here history repeats itself to the detriment of the poor devil who always succumbs to the cunning of the valley people on duty. Obviously the devil was tricked and instead of finding in the classic sack the man to be sacrificed he found … some say a dog some a calf. The devil made a great racket and his footprint can, to this day, be seen near the chapel of San Rocco.
According to a more plausible story we are in 1564 and one of the most serious plagues of the time is raging. Because of the great fear of contagion, the Council of Credence of Castellania had a gate built at the top of the arch to close the bridge, forbidding the valleys
of access to anyone. Beyond the gate is death, terror, the devil.
Another version: we are in 1378 and an architect asks for the devil’s help to build this incredible bridge that rises above the surface of the water by as much as 15 meters – with a single arch of as much as 37 meters of span.
And pr ultima another legend attributes the birth of the name to the exclamation of the locals who as a result of the taxes imposed, precisely for the construction of the bridge, by the lord of the day, Count Amedeo VII , at each glass of wine repeated "to the devil…. the bridge" annoyed at having to pay more expensive wine.
