The Old Bridge of Vilaller is an ancient bridge on the river Noguera Ribagorçana, currently in ruins. It is protected as a Bé Cultural d'Interès Local (Local Cultural Heritage site).[1]
Old Bridge of Vilaller | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 42°28′38″N 0°42′54″E / 42.4772343°N 0.7148718°E |
| Crossed | Noguera Ribagorçana |
| Locale | Vilaller, Alta Ribagorça, Catalonia |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| History | |
| Inaugurated | 17th century |
| Collapsed | August 2nd 1963 |
| Location | |
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Description
editThe bridge is a 17th-century construction that crosses the river Noguera Ribagorçana, linking the main center of Vilaller with the neighbourhood of Aragon located on the right bank of the river.[2]
The original bridge had three arches, but was damaged during the flood of 1963 and lost two of them.
History
editFor many years the river was crossed by means of a lever located roughly where the bridge is situated. During the 16th century the village of Vilaller experienced a strong economic growth so that on August 15, 1686, the General Council of Vilaller petitioned to His Majesty Charles II of Spain the permission for building a stone three arched bridge where the lever had been until then. They engaged to build it and keep it.[3]
The bridge endured until the flood of August 2, 1963, when the river destroyed two of the three arches.[4]
For some time, makeshift wooden planks over the ruins of the bridge allowed crossing the river, until June 1964 when a new bridge was built upstream.[5]
References
edit- ^ «Pont de Vilaller» (en català).
- ^ «Coneix el municipi» (en català).
- ^ «POUM Vilaller».
- ^ «Diari la Vanguàrdia explicant els aiguats».
- ^ «Diari la Vanguàrdia, construcció del pont nou».