Under the bridge, among the scrub, lie the ruins of the Gervasone foundry: structural parts of Turin's Mole Antonelliana were cast here. The Pont Neuf, a single arch over the Marmore torrent linking the town to the hamlet of Chaméran, was built in 1776 in front of the town hall and counted as bold engineering for its day.
What to see
The one arch stands 41 metres above the water and spans 22: in 1850 the French traveller Édouard Aubert, author of the illustrated volume La Vallée d'Aoste, called it a remarkable monument crossing the chasm with surprising daring. The wrought-iron railings are recent; photographs from the early twentieth century show metre-high stone parapets in their place. The bridge runs just upstream of the Roman one, and comparing the two tells you in a couple of minutes most of what there is to know about Châtillon.
Visiting
You cross it freely, right in the centre. In the inner courtyard of the town hall, a few steps away, stood the former Hôtel Londres, which put up climbers heading for the Matterhorn, Edward Whymper among them; it now houses the municipal band, the Corps philharmonique de Châtillon.
Our editors' tip
Lean over the downstream parapet: the drop of the torrent and what is left of the foundry sit in the same view. This is where the industrial town and the stone town face each other.
