Pont de Llierca

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Bridge over the Llierca - general view with pedestrians on the bridge

The Pont de Llierca (the bridge over the Llierca) is a single-arched, medieval stone bridge in Catalonia in the Catalan province of Girona in Spain , which spans the Llierca , a right tributary of the Fluvià , from Tortellà to Sales de Llierca at a height of 28 m . The bridge is an outstanding example of medieval bridge construction technology and engineering. The exact construction date of the bridge is unknown; however, their use has been proven since the end of the 14th century. A. Cuéllar Bassols, in his guide "Olot and its surroundings", places the construction of the building by the lords of Llierca, who wanted to reach their castle via the bridge, in the 12th century. The bridge is currently accessible. The graceful, slender elegance of this arch structure probably fascinates today's user in the same way as the bridge-walkers of the late 14th century or even earlier times.

description

The bridge structure is 52 m long. The only arch rises 28 meters above the water level of the river at the maximum point; its height is significantly greater than its wingspan . On both sides of the bridge crossing there is a stone wall to protect the crossing. The bridge crossing has a maximum width of 3 meters. The bridge corresponds to the medieval typology, which has the following features:

* There is a single round arch.
* The supporting arches (the so-called "donkey backs") are made of wedge stones on both sides.
* The supporting lateral pillars are made of limestone with the help of cement made from lime and sand.

People, traders with animals and goods crossed this bridge.

On the bridge over the Llierca

Historical context

Until the 10th century, the inhabitants of the Catalan counties used the Roman route system. There was only one exception here: the Franconian Way, which was established in the 8th century and led from Barcelona to the Pyrenees. This road served as an army road for the Carolingian soldiers. In the 11th century, an intensive construction phase of new paths and bridges began. According to the documents known today, bridges from this phase are on the one hand simple wooden walkways and on the other hand stone bridges such as the Llierca bridge discussed here. In the 13th century, multi-arched bridges are built, which usually have a small chapel in the middle, which is supposed to protect travelers. The expansion of the network of paths and the construction of bridges generally contradicts the idea of ​​the Middle Ages as the time of an absolutely closed society, which in a way had its back to the world. Medieval man's radius of action is limited. But goods and knowledge were exchanged in the region through trade and pilgrimage routes. Against this background, it is very likely (though not yet proven) that the barons of Sales de Llierca could build the treated here bridge to trade between the houses that lay west of the Llierca, with the population of Tortellà and Besalú to enable. The Llierca bridge is probably one of the oldest toll roads in Catalonia. The bridge financiers have levied a bridge tax for the transfer of commercial travelers with goods and animals. The above-mentioned early dating of the construction of the bridge structure in the 12th century by A. Cuéllar Bassols is related to this described context.

literature

  • Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran Geografia Comarcal de Catalunya, Volume 3, 1st edition, Barcelona 1981, ISBN 84-85194-17-9 (Volume 3), chapter “Montagut de Fluvià”, p. 378 f., There on p. 381 a photograph of the “bridge over the Llierca”.
  • Alexandre Cuéllar i Bassols: Olot i la Garrotxa, Guia Turística, Olot 1977, page 118 f., There a short review and a photo of the bridge of Llierca

Web links

Commons : Bridge over the Llierca  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The article is largely based on the article of the same name in the Catalan Wikipedia. The early dating of the building to the 12th century, represented by A. Cuéllar Bassols, is incorporated. The work by Josep Víctor Gay i Frías and Carlus Gay i Puigbert, Ponts a l'Alta Garrotxa, Girona 2008, ISBN 978-84-96747-20-3 , to which the Catalan Wikipedia refers, was unfortunately not available to the author. The author of the German WP article knows this bridge structure from the sight on site. Compare the photos of the author of this object from January 2014 in the WP media archive Wikimedia Commons.
  2. ↑ to: Bridge over the Llierca on romanicobert.cat
  3. ↑ "Donkey back" =: Catalan: "esquena d'ase"

Coordinates: 42 ° 14 ′ 50.3 "  N , 2 ° 36 ′ 13.9"  E