Built over the Tagus River near the current Alcántara, in the province of Cáceres, the Alcántara bridge is one of the most beautiful and important examples of Roman civil engineering. Despite being shorter than the one in Mérida and with fewer arches, it is much higher and above all more impressive. The complex is made up of three very different parts: the bridge, the central triumphal arch and a small rectangular temple measuring 5.60 x 4.10 metres. This building consists of a staircase, two Tuscan columns, an entablature and a classical pediment. A restored plaque indicates the name of its builder and reminds us that the bridge will last “as long as the world lasts”:

Translated by Google •

Oxígeno

December 8, 2022

In the parking lot of the Alcántara Roman bridge there is a fountain and an information panel about the work that the Romans built at the beginning of the 2nd century over the Tagus river canyon on the Vía Norba, the road that linked the Roman villas of Emerita Augusta and Bracara Augusta, a secondary road in the main communications network built by the engineers of the Roman Empire in the western peninsular but essential for trade and extraction of mineral wealth from the Lusitanian mountains. The bridge is imposing, it has six arches, 58 meters high and 194 meters long. In the center is the Arch of Trajan, which gives it greater monumentality. The cycling route leaves the bridge through the remains of the old Roman road that goes up towards the streets of Alcántara. The paving begins to the right of the Roman temple that presides over the entrance to the bridge and immediately turns to the left. At the crossroads there are posts for the Vía de la Estrella, the GR-112 and other local itineraries.

Translated by Google •

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Informations

Elevation 140 m

Weather

Monday 22 December

10°C

6°C

78 %

Additional weather tips

Max wind speed: 8.0 km/h

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Location: Alcántara, Brozas, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

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