Puente de San Martín (Toledo) facts for kids

An extreme of the Puente de San Martín in Toledo

The Puente de San Martín is a famous old bridge in Toledo, Spain. Its name means "St Martin's Bridge" in English. This bridge was built a very long time ago, during the medieval period. It crosses the Tagus River, which flows through the city.

The Puente de San Martín has five large arches. The biggest arch in the middle is 40 meters wide. When it was built, very few bridges in the world were this long. It was a truly amazing piece of engineering for its time!

Building the San Martín Bridge

An old picture of St. Martins Bridge.

This impressive bridge was built in the late 1300s. A powerful church leader, Archbishop Pedro Tenorio, helped make it happen. The main goal was to create a new way to enter the old city of Toledo from the west.

Toledo already had another old bridge, the Puente de Alcántara, which connected the city from the east. The San Martín Bridge helped complete the city's defenses. Both ends of the bridge had strong towers to protect it. The newest towers were added in the 1500s.

A Bridge Legend

Puente de San Martín in Toledo

There's a cool story about the San Martín Bridge. It's a legend about the bridge's opening day.

The story says that Ildefonsus, a very important bishop in Toledo, wanted to be there for the bridge's grand opening. The day before the big event, the architect who designed the bridge looked at his work. He was shocked! He realized he had made a huge mistake. The bridge would fall apart when they removed its temporary supports.

The architect went home, feeling terrible. He told his wife that the bridge would collapse with him on it. He would be disgraced forever. That night, while he slept, his clever wife had an idea. She secretly went to the bridge and started a fire. The fire burned down part of the bridge.

This saved her husband from public shame. The bridge was then rebuilt, but this time without the original mistake!

More Great Medieval Bridges

Puente de San Martín

The Puente de San Martín was one of the longest bridges of its time. Here are some other very large medieval bridges from around the world:

• Puente del Diablo (Martorell) (37.3 meters wide)
• Ponte della Maddalena (37.8 meters wide)
• Nyons Bridge (40.53 meters wide)
• Pont du Diable (Céret) (45.45 meters wide)
• Castelvecchio Bridge (48.7 meters wide)
• Pont Grand (Tournon-sur-Rhône) (49.2 meters wide)
• Pont de Vieille-Brioude (54.2 meters wide)
• Trezzo sull'Adda Bridge (72 meters wide)