Ronda's New Bridge

The New Bridge is, together with the bullring of the Royal Cavalry Order of Ronda, symbol and soul of the city.

There were two great ideas in order to built this bridge. The first of them was thought in 1735, being king Philip V, consisting of a 35 metres diameter arch, and whose works finished only 8 months later. Unfortunately, this bridge did not work, because it collapsed, bringing to death more or less to 50 people.

Few years later the building of a new bridge was begun, in 1751, and it was finished in 1793, at the same time of the celebration of the Royal May Fair of Ronda. The building took more than 40 years, being the executive chief the architect José Martín de Aldehuela, born in the Teruel's province village of Manzanera.

This master building has got a height of 98 metres, built with stone masonry which were taken from the depth of the Tajo's gorge. It allowed the conexion between the modern quarter of the city, called also the market's quarter, and the old quarter of the city, which allowed also the urban development of Ronda.

This majestic monument hast got inside it a modern concept of an Interpretation Centre about this great work of Engineering of the eighteen century and about the different aspects of its environement: fauna, vegetation, geology, urbanism, history, etc.

 

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