{"id":2738,"date":"2014-11-12T09:56:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T09:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/?p=2738"},"modified":"2026-10-09T14:01:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T14:01:33","slug":"puente-de-alcantara-toledo-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/articles\/puente-de-alcantara-toledo-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Puente de Alcantara, Toledo, Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Puente de Alc\u00e1ntara crosses the Tagus on the east side of Toledo, below the Castillo de San Servando. It is a bridge of Roman origin that was rebuilt several times in the Middle Ages and has been a National Monument since 1921. This post covers where it is, how it came to look the way it does, what to look at on the spot and how to get there.<\/p>\n

Where the bridge stands<\/h2>\n

The regional heritage catalogue of Castilla-La Mancha places the bridge where the Tagus narrows as it passes the eastern side of Toledo, at the foot of the Castillo de San Servando and beside the Puerta de Alc\u00e1ntara. Spain’s official tourism site gives its address as Calle Gerardo Lobo. The city’s tourist board lists the bridge in the Alc\u00e1zar area of the old town. Its counterpart on the west side of the city is the Puente de San Mart\u00edn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

According to the heritage catalogue, the bridge is a Roman construction of the 3rd century AD. The Roman roads crossed the river here and entered the city. The name comes from a later period: “Alc\u00e1ntara” is the Arabic word for bridge.<\/p>\n

The bridge has been rebuilt many times. An inscription records a reconstruction in the year 997. The tourist board adds that the bridge was badly damaged and rebuilt in the 10th century, and that the third arch disappeared at that time. It was reduced to a small opening with a horseshoe arch. The bridge originally had three arches and a tower at each end.<\/p>\n

For the rest of the Middle Ages the bridge was the entrance that every pilgrim had to use. It also served to control goods and to collect the toll on them. Under Alfonso X, in the 13th century, the bridge suffered serious damage and was rebuilt again. The western tower belongs to that period. It was later altered and decorated under the Catholic Monarchs, whose coat of arms is on its walls. The tourist board points out that the pomegranate of Granada is missing from the arms, because the conquest of Granada was not yet finished.<\/p>\n

The eastern tower was in ruins by the 18th century and was replaced by a baroque triumphal arch in 1721. At the start of the 20th century the bridge belonged to the ducal house of Alba. The State expropriated it in 1911 and declared it a National Monument in 1921.<\/p>\n

What to look at<\/h2>\n