Valentré Bridge at Cahors
Type:
Secular architecture
Date:
1308 to 1378
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
France
Dimensions:
L 138 × W 5 m
Description:
The Valentré Bridge (French Pont Valentré) was built at Cahors between 1308 to 1378. It spans the Lot River with eight pointed arches; three square towers, each 40 m high, made it recognizable from afar. The two outermost towers were fortified with battlements and narrow openings for archers, and there were originally sizable gateways (barbicans) on each side for additional control of the crossing. These may have seemed urgent during the Hundred Years' War between France and England, but Cahors was never threatened. The bridge, a marker of civic identity, carried local traffic as well as pilgrims on the route from Le Puy to Santiago in Compostela. A legend about the lengthy construction period encouraged a nineteenth-century restorer to insert a sculpture of a devil on one of the towers.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
9,
10
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
Tags:
Western European,
Status and identity,
Pilgrimage,
War
