Old Bridge over the Lima

About this place

The Old Bridge is a stone bridge across the Lima River in Ponte de Lima, northern Portugal, the country's oldest chartered town, which takes its name from it. It stands about 28 km northwest of Braga in a straight line and has been a National Monument since 1910. The bridge goes back to Roman times and may have been built in the 1st century under the Emperor Augustus, when the area lay on the Roman road linking Braga with Astorga by way of Lugo. It was rebuilt in the Middle Ages, possibly when the town received its charter in 1125. The bridge has two distinct parts. The Roman section on the right bank has seven arches, some hidden beneath the rock mass where a small church stands, while the medieval section has fifteen arches, two of them now buried. Its stone arches are mirrored in the calm river, and trees and gardens line both banks. Today the bridge is for pedestrians only. Visitors walk across between the banks and photograph it from the sandy riverbank and the gardens beside it, especially at sunset. The town's New Fairs festival, the Feiras Novas, is held every year on the second weekend of September, when the riverbanks fill with visitors.