Puente Mayor, Valladolid, Stone arch bridge across Pisuerga River in Valladolid, Spain.
Puente Mayor is a stone arch bridge over the Pisuerga River in Valladolid, Spain. It is made up of several rounded arches resting on thick piers, with pointed cutwaters that break into the current on both sides.
Tradition credits the bridge to 1080, built at the initiative of Doña Eylo, wife of Count Ansúrez, and it spurred the growth of the Barrio de La Victoria across the Pisuerga. Its pointed arches show the present structure dates from the 13th or 14th century, and at some point, perhaps the 15th century, its width was doubled, leaving two parallel bridges joined together. Floods forced repairs in the 17th and 18th centuries; in 1812 two arches were blown up and rebuilt in stone by the Biscayan stonemason Juan Yrure between 1825 and 1828, and in 1886 the deck was regularised.
The bridge connects two riverside paths that locals use daily for walks and leisure. On both banks, the stone railing marks a natural stopping point where people pause to look at the water below.
The bridge is open to pedestrians from both banks and is easy to reach from the city center on foot. Walking across takes only a few minutes, and the view of the river and the stone structure is best seen from the riverbank paths below.
The bridge's width was doubled at some point, perhaps in the 15th century, so it is really two parallel bridges joined together; this is visible on the underside of the arches. In 1689 an triumphal arch was built at the La Victoria end for the visit of King Charles II, demolished in the 19th century.
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