Roman Bridge
In this section we are going to speak about other monuments or pla
ces, without minding what was previously explained, but that could be interesting for the tourists. So beginning from this idea we are going to explain the Roman Bridge.
We said that it is known as Roman Bridge, like Miguel Ángel Ortí explaines, but of this period only the shape and the structure are conserved. Aulo Hircio, the captain and historian of the Caesar‘s period, told us about the struggle among Caesar
and the Pompeius’s sons. In this war, our city supported the last ones and it was mentioned in some tales: "Habiendo llegado César… hizo echar en él grandes cestos llenos de piedras, sobre los cuales construyó un puente… y allí pasó el ejército hasta tres veces" (Arriving Julius Caesar to the city, big stones were thrown and on these stones a big bridge was built, so three times the army walked on the bridge).
Starting from the idea that Caesar needed a
bridge to cross the river it is logically supposed that there was no bridge there. Later it was built by Augustus, when the city was named Colonia Patricia.
The roman built many other buildings and they were experts in building bridges on rivers. The result was the bridge built in limestone. The first to do was to select the place where to set the bridge and they selected the lower place of the river next to Martos Mills. The result was a bridge made with limestone on the woodland, composed by
sixteen roman arches put on strong pillars with round counterforts.
We know about the existence of the bridge since the muslim period. This is mentioned in a text by Ajbar Madmua, when he explained the rainy night in which the entrance of the muslim coming from North Africa and crossing the bridge. A lot of repairs were run in this period due to the natural fragility of the materials, limestone, and due to the floods. Even it was not used for years and it was necessary to transport the died people on ships
along the river till the Arrabal Cemetery, situated on the other riverside.
In the middle age it was a very important part of the city and they tried to conserve it as better as possible.In the middle of the XVII Century the pest come to the city. When the pest ended, an image of saint Raphael was put on the bridge, this sculpture was performed by Bernabé del Rio, supported by Juan Bautista Caballero. Below it there is a marble coffin that says: "A mayor gloria de Dios y culto de nuestro Santo Custodio, el gremio de
curtidores y fabricantes de guantes renovó ésta santa imagen… septiembre 10 del año 1789" (to the glory of God and cult to our Saint Custody, the handcrafters of gloves renewed this image…..10 september 1789). This statue is very close to the cordovan people and a lot of times it is full of red candles, that shows the deep love shown to this saint custody. In the past our city had to restore the bridge because of its materials, the traffic of cars and even the buses.
The last 9 January 2008 the bridge was inaugurated after a long restoration. During its restoration there was a lot of polemics, because the main aim of it was to keep the original shape of the bridge. During this task, the praying place dedied to Saint Victory and Saint Acisclus was recuperated and renewed. This was situated in front of the image of the saint.
ces, without minding what was previously explained, but that could be interesting for the tourists. So beginning from this idea we are going to explain the Roman Bridge.
We said that it is known as Roman Bridge, like Miguel Ángel Ortí explaines, but of this period only the shape and the structure are conserved. Aulo Hircio, the captain and historian of the Caesar‘s period, told us about the struggle among Caesar
and the Pompeius’s sons. In this war, our city supported the last ones and it was mentioned in some tales: "Habiendo llegado César… hizo echar en él grandes cestos llenos de piedras, sobre los cuales construyó un puente… y allí pasó el ejército hasta tres veces" (Arriving Julius Caesar to the city, big stones were thrown and on these stones a big bridge was built, so three times the army walked on the bridge).
Starting from the idea that Caesar needed a
bridge to cross the river it is logically supposed that there was no bridge there. Later it was built by Augustus, when the city was named Colonia Patricia.
The roman built many other buildings and they were experts in building bridges on rivers. The result was the bridge built in limestone. The first to do was to select the place where to set the bridge and they selected the lower place of the river next to Martos Mills. The result was a bridge made with limestone on the woodland, composed by
sixteen roman arches put on strong pillars with round counterforts.
We know about the existence of the bridge since the muslim period. This is mentioned in a text by Ajbar Madmua, when he explained the rainy night in which the entrance of the muslim coming from North Africa and crossing the bridge. A lot of repairs were run in this period due to the natural fragility of the materials, limestone, and due to the floods. Even it was not used for years and it was necessary to transport the died people on ships
along the river till the Arrabal Cemetery, situated on the other riverside.
In the middle age it was a very important part of the city and they tried to conserve it as better as possible.In the middle of the XVII Century the pest come to the city. When the pest ended, an image of saint Raphael was put on the bridge, this sculpture was performed by Bernabé del Rio, supported by Juan Bautista Caballero. Below it there is a marble coffin that says: "A mayor gloria de Dios y culto de nuestro Santo Custodio, el gremio de
curtidores y fabricantes de guantes renovó ésta santa imagen… septiembre 10 del año 1789" (to the glory of God and cult to our Saint Custody, the handcrafters of gloves renewed this image…..10 september 1789). This statue is very close to the cordovan people and a lot of times it is full of red candles, that shows the deep love shown to this saint custody. In the past our city had to restore the bridge because of its materials, the traffic of cars and even the buses.
The last 9 January 2008 the bridge was inaugurated after a long restoration. During its restoration there was a lot of polemics, because the main aim of it was to keep the original shape of the bridge. During this task, the praying place dedied to Saint Victory and Saint Acisclus was recuperated and renewed. This was situated in front of the image of the saint.
Text: J.A.S.C.
Traslated by Sara Moretti
Art, Culture and Tourism in Cordoba