Stone bridge in Rabštejn nad Střelou, Medieval stone bridge in Rabštejn nad Střelou, Czech Republic.
The Stone Bridge in Rabštejn nad Střelou is a single-lane road bridge over the Střela, 55 metres long and 4.3 metres wide, with arches of six-metre span. Its lower part is built of smoothly worked ashlar blocks of coarse-grained sandstone, the upper part of rough quarry stone and shale, and the parapet wall is capped with granite slabs. The pier is fitted with a cutwater.
Oldřich Pluh z Rabštejna, a favourite of King John of Luxembourg, bought the Rabštejn estate after 1321 and had the castle rebuilt and the town founded; he obtained Prague city rights for it on 21 September 1337. The bridge is thought to have been built in 1335–1340, carrying the overland route from Cheb via Loket, Žlutice and Rakovník to Prague. It is probably older than Charles Bridge and, after the stone bridge at Písek, the second-oldest surviving bridge in the Czech Republic.
The bridge has been a filming location for Czech and foreign productions: the films Šťastný smolař and Svatojánský věneček were shot here, and in 2011 it served as the setting for the remix of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus video. A Baroque statue of St John of Nepomuk and a wooden cross once stood on the bridge; the statue was moved to a nearby rock.
The bridge carries the single-lane road II/206, so watch for vehicles; traffic coming downhill from Nový Dvůr has priority and the weight limit is 24 tonnes. It stands at the northeastern edge of the former historic town, and the roadway is 4.3 metres wide. The statue of St John of Nepomuk that once stood on the bridge has been moved to a nearby rock.
The location now belongs to Manětín municipality but was long known as one of the smallest settlement centers in Central Europe. This unusual history gives the bridge special importance to the local identity.
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