pyraniton, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gorges de Saorge
The Saorge gorges are carved by the Roya below the village of Saorge, in the upper Roya valley, between Breil-sur-Roya and Fontan. The river slips between high limestone walls there, crossed by old bridges such as those of the Bendola, Gémion or Commun. These structures were destroyed at the end of the Second World War, then rebuilt.
The gorge road, narrow and exposed to falling rocks, was bypassed at the beginning of the twenty-first century by a tunnel. To discover the site better, several paths start from Saorge, a hilltop village without cars, notably the GR 52A towards Breil-sur-Roya, which passes the Col du Mont Agu and from which a branch descends to the Baoussoun bridge, on the Bendola torrent. Chestnut forests and views over the valley offer a preserved setting, close to the Franciscan convent of Saorge.
