The Ter bridge rebuilt by prisoners

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Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
17 March 2023 Friday 02:47
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The Ter bridge rebuilt by prisoners

* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia

The Pont de l'Aigua de Girona has more than likely origins in Roman times, when it was part of the Via Augusta, which connected the Iberian Peninsula with Rome. But, the one we know today is a work that is the result of the work of political prisoners.

It was already rebuilt in medieval times (it has been documented since the 13th century), since the royal road passed through here, as the main entrance and exit from Girona to and from the north.

In 1939 it was demolished during the withdrawal of the republican troops and, in 1940, it was rebuilt using political prisoners as labor.

According to the historian Borja de Riquer, the work battalions were made up mainly of Republican soldiers captured by the Francoist army and exiles who returned from France shortly after the war ended, according to the Consorci del Ter.

In fact, the inauguration of the bridge was made to coincide with the first anniversary of the entry of the Francoist army into Girona.

The project removed two eyes of the bridge, which went from 10 to 8 arches, exceeding the height of the old bridge by half a meter, remaining 8.5 meters above the riverbed. This meant that the bridge could withstand the downpour of the autumn of 1940. The length of the bridge is 152 meters by 9.4 meters wide.

This series of photographs in Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia have been captured crossing the Pont de l'Aigua de Sarrià de Ter to Pont Major de Girona. They are the reflection of a pleasant walk along the river bank, behind the old Torrespapel factory, now in Hinojosa.