Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: bridge

People have lived in this area since the Neolithic period, but it has been continuously inhabited since the conquest by Roman legions, who established an outpost and took over the existing castros in the area. It developed into a military centre known for its baths. The Romans built defensive walls, spanned the river with a bridge, and exploited the local mines. The importance of the town led to it being elevated to the status of a city in 79 AD, during the reign of the first Flavian Caesar, which was also reflected in its name, Aquae Flaviae. Rome's hegemony lasted until the 3rd century, when, successively, the Suebi and Visigoths as well as the Alani colonized the settlements of Chaves. The area surrendered to Islamic forces at around 714-716. The city was conquered by Alfonso I of Asturias in 773 and repopulated in 868 by Alfonso III of Asturias. Battles between Christian and Muslim forces then continued until the 11th century, when Alfonso V of León permanently reconquered Coimbra, establishing a firm buffer-zone to the south. He reconstructed, settled and encircled the settlement of Chaves with walls, in addition to establishing a Jewish quarter in the community. It was in the reign of Afonso I of Portugal that it was taken from León and firmly integrated into the Kingdom of Portugal domain (1160). Owing to its geographic location King Denis, ordered the construction of a castle to protect the kingdom's border. The Ponte de Trajano, was built at the end of the 1st century. Approximately 150 meters long and with a dozen visible arches it became a pedestrian bridge in 2008

Vila Real (population 17,500) is located on a plateau above the headland formed by the gorges of the rivers Corgo and Cabril. This is where the oldest part of the town is located, framed by the slopes of the Corgo gorge. The area has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic period. The rock sanctuary of Panóias bears witness to the presence of the Romans. However, during the migration period and the Muslim invasion, the area gradually became depopulated. At the end of the 11th century the colonisation of the region was encouraged. It was not until 1289 that a charter from King D. Dinis founded the royal town of Panóias, which became the current town.

Today, Medellin is a city with around 2000 inhabitants. Roman Metellinum was founded by the consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius around 79 BC. In honour of its founder it received its first name, Metellinum. The Visigoths (around 570-768) and the Moors (768-1234) have also left their mark. Medellín is the birthplace of Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), the conquistador of the Aztec empire. One of Cortés' comrades-in-arms, Gonzalo de Sandoval (1497-1527), was also born in Medellín. There are various remains from the Roman period here. The Roman bridge (puente romano) over the Rio Guidana was repeatedly repaired and restored in the Middle Ages and early modern times.

The Lemavi tribe populated the area around Monforte de Lemos, before the Romans, the Suevi and the Visigoths left their own footprints. Tt is believed the town was destroyed in the 8th century by the Muslim invaders. In the 12th century, the settlemet was granted to Fruela Díaz, of the House of Lemos, who had the town rebuilt over the ruins. Monforte flourished as an agricultural market. During the Middle Ages, a Benedictine community established on the Monastery of San Vicente del Pino. Both the capital tower and the fortified city's walls were demolished during the Irmandiño revolt in the second half of 15th century. The rebels repressed by the Count of Lemos, the lord of the land, who made them work to rebuild the castle. According to tradition, its origins date back to Roman times. However, the current bridge was not built until the 16th century. It is a stone bridge consisting of six round arches, two of which were rebuilt later, and whose pillars are supported by buttresses. The bridge is labelled as "old", in contrast to another important bridge in the city, built in the last century and known as the Puente Nuevo.

The old bridge spans over the Magasquilla stream.

According to an inscription engraved in the central section, the bridge dates from 1670. It spans the Mijares River. It is one of the many "Puentes de Diabolo".

The Roman bridge of Luco de Jiloca is located on the bed of the Pancrudo River. This bridge was part of the Roman road that connected Caesaraugusta (= Zaragoza) with Cástulo (near Jaén).

Legend tells, that in the 3rd century, the Facundus and Primitivus were martyred here. In 872 a monastery was founded in honor of the two martyrs, but it was destroyed again in 873. After the reconstruction, there was further destruction by Almansor at the end of the 10th century. The Way of St. James runs here and when in 1085, a market town was founded, which, was endowed with royal privileges, it was very attractive to pilgrims to settle here. In 1085 the bridge over the Rio Cea was also built, which is still in use.

Ice on the small pond under the old bridge near Frosini.

In the 11th century a settlement existed on the Vistula River, which since 1123 has been the seat of a bishopric subordinate to the Archbishop of Gniezno, and in 1261 received town rights. At that time the town's name was Leslau. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the town was destroyed and subjugated several times by Teutonic Knights. Only the Peace Treaty of Thorn in 1466 finally secured peace. After that, the grain trade flourished until the Swedish invasion in 1657 partially destroyed the town. After the Second Partition of Poland, Włocławek fell to Prussia in 1793, and after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the town became part of the newly formed Congress Poland, which belonged to Russia. - The steel lattice bridge is 620 meters long and 9 meters wide. It was built in 1937 During WW II, the Polish army blew up the bridge. It was rebuilt by the German occupation authorities in 1944 , and then blown up by the German army during the Germans' withdrawal from the city in 1945. It was rebuilt again in 1948.

In Bagnac-sur-Célé the visitor can cross the river Cele over this medieval bridge from the 12th century.

Gravina was populated already in Stone Age times, it was colonized by the Greeks during the colonization of Greater Greece. The Romans took over around 300 BC and the Via Appia, which linked Rome to Brindisi, passed through Gravina. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by Goths, Byzantines, Lombards and Saracens. The Normans arrived around 1000. The town was the site of a Norman countship in the Hauteville Kingdom of Sicily and in 1091 the construction of the Norman cathedral started. Emperor Frederick II had a castle built nearby, that is meanwhile in ruins. From 1386 to 1816 (!) it was a fief of the Orsini family. Feudal oppression led to numerous riots, in particular from 1789 until the unification of Italy in 1861. The "Ponte Acquedotto Viadotto della Madonna della Stella" is a viaduct and an aqueduct. The structure, bridging over the Botromago gorge, is 37 meters high and about 90 metres long. It was erected end of the 17th century and rebuilt after the earthquake of 1722. It connects Gravina with the rock church "Maria dell Stella", a place of pilgrimage over centuries.

Ronda was known to the Romans by the name of Arunda. At the end of the Roman Empire it was taken by the Suebi and later part of the Visigoth realm. In 713 it fell to the Berbers, who built a castle on the Roman foundations. The troops of the Marquis of Cádiz conquered Ronda after a siege in 1485. The Spanish decreed that all Muslims must either convert to Christianity or leave Spain without their belongings. Muslims who converted were called Moriscos, they had to wear upon their hats a blue crescent. In 1566 Philip II decreed the use of the Arabic language illegal, required that doors open on Fridays to verify that no Muslim Friday prayers were conducted. This led to a rebellion. The Muslim soldiers defeated the Spanish army sent to suppress them. The massacre prompted Phillip II to order the expulsion of all Moriscos in Ronda. Ronda´s Moorish old town, La Ciudad, is located on a steeply sloping rock plateau. The old town is separated from the younger part, El Mercadillo, by the "Tajo de Ronda" a narrow gorge almost 100 meters deep, formed by the Guadalevín River. Puente Viejo ("Old Bridge") is the oldest of the three bridges that span the chasm "Tajo de Ronda". For some scholars here are Roman foundations, other see them as Moorish. After the conquest the bridge was destroyed and got rebuilt, but the new bridge good destroyed by a flood in 1616, so what is seen today was erected after the flood.

The easiest way to reach the Swiss village Rheinau, located at a bend of the Rhine River, from Swiss Schaffhausen, is, as the Rhine forms the Swiss-German border here, to enter Germany and cross this covered bridge, that links Rheinau to the German village Altenburg. The right side of a river is Swiss, the left German.

A Roman bridge, crossing the river Ticino, existed here over centuries. In 1354 this "covered bridge" replaced the old construction. This bridge got heavily damaged end of WWII - and collapsed in 1947. The new bridge, rebuilt in the early 1950 is based on the previous one.

After having passed the ugly commercial zone along the D910", dotted with cheap hotels and hamburger-restaurants, I finally reached the inner city of Châtellerault, where the "chemin" runs along the Vienne. Here is the "Pont Henri-IV", built from 1565 to 1609. The bridge is framed by two round towers on left bank of Vienne river.

An old bridge crosses the Beuvron, a tributary to the Loire, in the village Candé-sur-Beuvron. As the old bridge could not cope with modern traffic, a new bridge rund parallel to it, that is where I am standing. Large, lurid flower pots are placed on the bridge. They seem to be the "dernier cri" for the decoration of public spaces.

Leaving Saint-Savin via the medieval bridge, that crosses the Gartempe since the 12th century. The bridge got probably repaired, rebuilt, reinforced many times over the century. Today it is used by cars and trucks, as the D951 runs over it.