First thrown across the Guadalquivir in Roman times, the bridge of Cordoba has carried traffic over the river for some two thousand years. For most of that history it was the only bridge in the city, and it remains one of the great sights of the old centre. It was originally built in the 1st century BC, in the age of the Emperor Augustus, and is thought to have carried the Via Augusta, the Roman road that ran from the heart of the empire all the way to Cadiz on the Atlantic coast. Although it is known as the Roman bridge, very little of the Roman fabric survives. The structure was largely rebuilt under Muslim rule in the 8th century, and only two of its sixteen arches are reckoned to be original. Stretching for around 247 metres, the bridge has been repaired and reinforced many times over the centuries, often after the floods of the Guadalquivir damaged its arches, yet it has always kept to its original line across the water. At its southern end stands the Calahorra tower, a medieval fortress that now houses a museum of the cultures of al-Andalus, while at the northern end the Puerta del Puente, a gate rebuilt in the 16th century, marks the way into the old city near the great mosque-cathedral. In the middle of the bridge is a 17th-century statue of the Archangel Raphael, the patron saint of Cordoba, where local people have long stopped to light candles and offer prayers. The bridge, the Calahorra tower and the gate together were declared a protected monument in 1931, and the crossing has since been fully pedestrianised, freeing it for walkers and for the views it offers of the cathedral. It found a new audience as a filming location, standing in for a great bridge in a popular television series, but for the people of Cordoba it remains the historic link across the Guadalquivir, especially fine at sunset when the cathedral glows behind it.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Córdoba, Spain, 14003