Puente Romano

Mérida, Spain

Access unknown

We could not determine this from the source data.

Find out more

The Puente Romano spans the Guadiana River at Mérida in southwest Spain and stands as the world's longest surviving bridge from antiquity. Built in the first century CE from Roman cement, granite, and stone, this engineering marvel originally extended 755 meters across 62 spans, its piers ingeniously designed with rounded upstream sides and square downstream sides to withstand river currents. The structure has endured centuries of adaptation: Visigothic restoration in 686, Philip II's reconstruction in 1610, and wartime damage in 1812 when seventeen arches were destroyed during the Battle of Badajoz. Today sixty spans remain, totaling 721 meters between abutments, with approaches extending the full structure to 790 meters. Pedestrianized in 1991 as traffic shifted to the nearby Lusitania Bridge, it remains in use and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Alcazaba of Mérida, a Moorish fortification raised in 835, adjoins the bridge.