Medieval Bridges
Romanesque Style
The Romanesque style in Spain is a regional blend of the style in the rest of Europe in the 11 th and 12 th centuries and, the influence from the Byzantine, Pre-Roman, Roman and Germanic styles.
Some of the most distinctive features of the Romanesque style are its simplicity, sense of symmetry and order of elements, as well as the didactic purpose of paintings and sculptures. Other characteristics include thick buildings with few small openings, semicircular arches, barrel and groin vaults, sturdy piers to support the arches, massive drum columns to support thick walls and heavy vaults and large towers.
The Romanesque style spread in the northern half of the peninsula since the Muslims controlled the south. Main focal points in Spain would include Orense and Lugo in Galicia; Palencia, Burgos, Soria and Segovia in Castile-Leon and, finally territories that correspond to the current autonomous communities of Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Alava, Navarre, Aragón and Catalonia.
The experts tend to divide the development and influence of the style in
three phases. The first period, when it comes to the peninsula through France and expands through Catalonia and Aragón, during the 11 th and first years of the 12 th centuries; the second period, extended first through the Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James); and finally the late Romanesque period - a blend of Romanesque and Gothic features, in the late 12 th century.
Romanesque Bridges
Romanesque Bridges shared some common qualities: they had an odd number of spans, the lateral ones were smaller - their clear span distance increased as they got closer to the central one, which was the biggest-; semicircular arches and lancet arches in the late Romanesque; buttresses for the arches to rest on; use of cutwaters to mitigate the pressure. Some of these bridges had parapets.
Some of the most important Romanesque bridges in the peninsula are: Puente de Covatillas (Segovia), Puente de la Reina (Navarra), Puente de Cangas de Onís (Asturias), Puente de Besalú (Gerona), Puente de Frías (Burgos) and Puente de Capella (Huesca).
Puente de Cangas de Onís (Asturias)
There is controversy to catalogue this bridge: some authors consider it Roman and date it as originally being from the second century AD, but it clearly is not Roman in its form since all three main arches are pointed arches. (8)
The total length of the bridge is 92 m. It has three main spans of about 7.7, 21.6 and 9.5 m, followed by other three smaller ones of 6.8, 4.3 and 3.6 m. The roadway rises abruptly to the center of the main span. Its picturesque appearance is intensified by the large metal crucifix hanging under the center of the main span, as well as by the creeper hanging from it.
Mudéjar Style
Mudéjar the result of a combination of Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions merging together during the Convivencia. It translated into different layers of society and culture, were architecture and art was important. The mudéjar emerged as an artistic style in the 12 th century and its influence lasted until the 17 th century. Sometimes some of this art influenced Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance's art.
The Mudéjar style did not incorporate new shapes or structures, unlike, for example, Romanesque or Gothic. It was more a translation and interpretation of architectural and ornamental Islamic motifs or elements, such as the use of brick as a material, geometric forms, tile work, carved wood and/or plaster and ornamental metals into other styles or structures.
The emergence of Mudéjar as an art style should be dated around the 12 th century by the powerful city of Sahagún, a community/settlement in the Camino de Santiago. This town became a strong religious and economic center during the 12 th and 13 th centuries, to the point where they hired crews of masons from Toledo to expedite many architectural projects at that particular time. The style extended to the rest of the kingdom of León, ¡vila, Segovia, Toledo etc. and to other cities such as Cuéllar, Toro, Madrigal de las Altas Torres or Arévalo. The places where it became most developed where in the Aragón area and the cities of Teruel, Zaragoza, Tauste, Calatayud, etc. Mudéjar later on by led to a fusion between the incipient Gothic style and the Muslim influences that had previously been superimposed on late Romanesque. A particularly fine example is the Mudéjar Casa de Pilatos, built in Seville in the early 16 th century.
Mudéjar Bridges
Devil's Bridge (Puente del Diablo, Martorell)
This bridge was originally Roman but completely rebuilt by the Moors. It crosses the río Llobregat at Martorell (province of Barcelona). There is disagreement on the date. Some scholars point the 2 nd century A.D. as the most reasonable option. The bridge was rebuilt in 1283, under Mohammed II, with a Gothic arch (this is the main reason I am inclined to believe this is a mudéjar bridge instead of Roman). It was repaired in 1768, 1928 and 1933; destroyed in 1939 during the Civil war and rebuilt in 1965.
With a main clear span of 37.3 m and with a small stone chapel on the top and a triumphal arch at the eastern end, it is one of the most spectacular of ancient bridges in its present form. The secondary arch at the right bank has a clear span of 19.1 m with a minor opening above it and a small arch of about 6m, set high near the left bank
Gothic Style
Gothic architecture evolved from the Romanesque architecture, changing some basic concepts or even opposing them: Gothic implies light, color, elevation, space to proclaim the gory of God. For the most part there was not clean break, but the Gothic style developed mainly from the last years of the 12 th to the 26 th centuries.
The common defining characteristics of the style are: pointed arches; very high towers and roofs; narrow stone walls and buttresses protruding in the outside part to hold them; ribbed vaults; clustered columns; tracery and stained glass. This is the style of great churches, cathedrals and abbeys, castles, palaces and universities.
In Spain, there was a clear influence of the Moorish art that gave the Spanish Gothic a regional different flavor. Some of these specific features included the use of the horseshoe arch; pierced stone tracery; rich surface decoration, including geometrical patterns and. excessive ornamentation.
Gothic Bridges
Gothic Bridges do not differ greatly from Romanesque bridges. Fernandez Troyano in his article (9) points out some general characteristics shared by mediaeval bridges without specifying whether or not they are Romanesque of Gothic like: slenderness of arches and the relation between pier width and the arch span; radial voussoirs. He does identify a couple as being exclusive of the Gothic style when he mentions symmetrical triangular cutwaters that rise up to the road platform; relieving arches (or spillways) or great spans of some of the arches. As mentioned previously, it is difficult to separate styles and decide abruptly.
Some of the major greatest Gothic Bridges in Spain include Puente de San Martín (Toledo), Alquézar (Huesca), Puente del Diablo (Jaén), Motrisol (Cataluña), Puente de Piedra (Zaragoza), Pont Vell (Manresa) and Puente del Arzobispo (Cáceres), to mention some.
Puente Nuevo de Ronda (Málaga) (10)
The New Bridge (in English) is one of the symbols of Ronda. This magnificent bridge was carried out through two major projects. The first one in 1735, under King Felipe V, consisted of an arch of 35 m in diameter, but that collapsed six years later. The second project, conducted by José Martín de Aldehuela, begun in 1751 and was completed by 1793.
Made of stone masonry taken from the Tajo´s gorge, the bridge consists of three levels: the inferior level with a semicircular arch that serves as the foundation; the second level with a 98 m high central semicircular arch and, finally the superior one with 2 semicircular smaller arches in both sides that support the previous one, between these two, there is an internal space that served as a prison in the past and it now hosts the Centro de Interpretación del Puente Nuevo (11), a museum about the bridge.
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