What you see looks like a triumphal arch, and many Cordobans call it that, but it is a gate in the city wall. People have entered Córdoba from the south at this point for two thousand years: there was a three-arched Roman gate here, on the Via Augusta, and later the Bab al-Qantara, the Bridge Gate of the Andalusi city.

1A gate for a king

The present gate was begun in 1572, when the council wanted a more dignified entrance after the Cortes that Philip II held in Córdoba in 1570. The work was first given to Francisco de Montalbán and soon passed to Hernán Ruiz III, of the dynasty of architects who worked on the cathedral. The budget nearly tripled and, for lack of funds, it was never entirely finished.

In 1912 the surrounding walls were pulled down, and in 1928 the side facing the city was built as a copy of the outer one. That is why it now looks like a free-standing arch.

For a long time this was the site of the fielato, the office where duties were charged on goods coming in over the bridge. Early this century it was restored, the ground was lowered to its original level and the passage under the arch was reopened, just as travellers crossed it long ago.

2What to look for

  • The paired Doric columns on the river side.
  • The coat of arms and inscription at the top.
  • The inner side, plainer, added in 1928.

Documented

A Renaissance gate begun in 1572 to mark the Cortes of 1570; its inner face was built in 1928.

Sources and credits

Junta de Andalucía, Digital Guide to the Cultural Heritage of Andalusia (IAPH), entry on the Puerta del Puente; Córdoba City Council, tourist information; Teodomiro Ramírez de Arellano, Paseos por Córdoba (1873-1877).

Photos:

  • The Bridge Gate, a Renaissance stone arch with Doric columns and a coat of arms at the top: Américo Toledano, CC BY 3.0.

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