The historic Puente de Piedra in Zamora

El Puente de Piedra de Zamora, also known as Puente Nuevo de Zamora, is one of five bridges crossing the river as it passes through the city. For centuries, it was the only river crossing in the city, linking the arrabal with the historic center. Today, it serves as a connection between the Avenida de Vigo on the right bank and the Plaza de Belén on the left bank. As a crucial location along the Vía de la Plata, el Puente de Piedra was an essential passage for people, goods, and livestock. Completed in the early 13th century, it has been renovated multiple times and remains one of the city's most representative symbols.

The bridge serves as a pedestrian bridge following the opening of the puente de los Poetas in 2013. Historically, it was part of the Roman road known as Iter ab Emerita Asturicam. While the bridge was known as Puente Nuevo in its medieval period, it is the 'puente viejo' (old bridge) that is the protagonist of the miracle of San Atilano, the first bishop of the diocese of Zamora.

A 1570 painting by Anton Van den Wyngaerde shows the bridge with two towers on each side of the bank. These towers had a height of three stories each and are supposed to have been designed by Juan Antonio Texa. They served as elements of surveillance, allowed for the control of goods, and guaranteed the collection of the portage tax. The bridge also featured a doorway in the form of an arch, the Puerta de Tajamar, and a section oblique to the main axis, which was common in bridges with a defensive character to force an enemy to expose themselves.

The bridge has faced frequent floods that damaged some of its eyes; for example, the flood of 1597 reached the level of the church of Santa María de la Horta. In 1719, strong floods again damaged the neighboring mills of Olivares. Throughout the 19th century, remodeling works were constant, requiring regular efforts from the city council.

During a major restoration at the beginning of the 20th century, the bridge's towers and crenelated parapets were removed to facilitate traffic. In the current version of the bridge, only the vaults of the large arches and the piers remain from the original stone material, though these were extensively retouched. This remodeling involved replacing the Puerta de Tajamar with a roundabout, which caused the disappearance of the sixty-first arch, leaving the bridge with its current configuration of fifteen arches.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons