Románico Zamora

Stone Bridge or Main Bridge

12th century

There was probably here a former Roman bridge that connected the town of Toro with the Roman camp called Villalazán crossing the Douro River, but nowadays little more than its style remains, which has been reproduced in the Romanesque bridge. For this reason it was known as “Puente Viejo” what means Old Bridge.

Its location on the river is not the usual due to a change in its course in the Middle Ages.

Its structure is similar to the Stone Bridge at Zamora. It consists of 24 semicircular and pointed spans. The 19 spans on the northern side, in Romanesque style, were begun in the late 12th century. Precisely the city was accessible by that side , while at the opposite end was the defensive tower that was destroyed in the 19th century. During the withdrawal of French troops, two of their arches were also destroyed.

Most of the cutwaters are semicircular, but there are some triangular and in them, as in pillars, can be seen ashlar from the Roman bridge which are made of more blackish sandstone.

Due to the strong current of the river, it suffered numerous stone falls and consequently it had to be restored several times. All of them were well documented. It was necessary to reinforce main spans with transverse arches because of wearing-away of sandstone which was used instead of limestone.

Nowadays it has fall into disuse for the passage of a railway near one end of the bridge.

ADDRESS

It is located close to Cuesta Empedrada Street, at its lower part.

To view the entire route from your position to the monument, you can click on the Google icon located on the lower left corner of the map.

OPENING HOURS AND VISITS

Free visit.

GENERAL INTEREST SERVICES

Tourist office:
- Toro: It is located at 6, Main Square. Tel. +34 980 694 747 

Civil Guard (police with responsibilities outside towns):
- Toro: Tel. +34 980 690 012

Emergency telephone numbers: 112 
- Toro medical center: Tel. +34 980 691 337

Bus station: 
- Toro: Tel. +34 980 693 236

Train station: 
- Toro: Tel. +34 905 551 844

Taxis:
- Toro: Tels. +34 639 421 582 / +34 630 752 526 / +34 607 451 307

Civil defence:
- Toro: Tel. +34 980 690 100