Puente del Dragón (The Guardian of the Castle)

1553

The bridge commonly known as “Dragon Bridge” was built as part of Alcalá de Guadaíra’s ring road,which links the A-92 motorway (Seville-Almería) with the A-392 Alcalá-Dos Hermanas road.

The structure was designed by José Luis Manzanares, who also designed a bridge in Seville known as “Puente del Cachorro”. The bridge is 123 metres long and emulates a dragon crossing the River Guadaíra, leaving behind the Castle, one of Europe’s largest Almohad fortresses. Hence, the dragon not only welcomes the visitors, but is also the guardian of the Castle and the defender of the town.

The bridge was inspired by the work of the Barcelona architect, Antonio Gaudí, and in particular by the dragon that decorates one of the fountains in Barcelona’s Park Güell. Like most of Gaudi’s work, he uses pieces of tiles to decorate the surfaces according to the trencadís, or mosaic, technique.

Labels