Description
Declared Monument 02/04/1993. The Ariza bridge, 17 km away from the city of Úbeda, is undoubtedly the most beautiful and important engineering work of Andrés de Vandelvira. As a bridge builder, Vandelvira gained experience alongside his father-in-law Francisco de Luna, the master stonemason responsible for the grandiose San Pablo bridge in the city of Cuenca, begun in 1520 and replaced in 1895 by the current one. Vandelvira, while carrying out his work in the cathedral of Cuenca, intervened in this bridge, creating plans in 1560 for the carving of the arches. His is also the demolished bridge over the Guadalmena (studied by E. Herrera and J. Zapata), located on the limits of the current municipalities of Siles (Jaén) and Montiel (Ciudad Real), for which in 1555 Vandelvira presented the first traces and in 1565 the second.That of Ariza, extended over the bed of the Guadalimar River, of which important documentation made known by V.M. Ruiz Fuentes, was built at the initiative of the Úbeda Council to improve the communication of Andalusia with Levante and La Mancha through the Condado region. In September 1562, a royal provision authorized the drafting of the conditions of work as well as its public auction. Vandelvira is in charge of drawing up the plans and conditions for the construction of the bridge. Once the work was put up for auction, it was finally finished on October 4, 1563 by the Ubetan master stonemason Antón Sánchez. The works were visited by Vandelvira on numerous occasions. In the one carried out in September 1571, the side arches were going to be closed and the first ring of the central one was practically closed. In August 1575, with Vandelvira already dead, Antón Sánchez acknowledges having received, to date, the sum of 1,875,875 maravedís, while indicating that the work was practically finished. Finally, in 1582 Pedro de Alcalá Monte, Senior Master of the Huéscar church, appraised the work, now completely finished, leaving the Council of Úbeda in debt to Antón Sánchez for 17,859 ducats. Built in sandstone carved in ashlar, it is a rare example of a Renaissance bridge, of the type known as “on the back of a donkey”, as its passage is not flat but formed by a very pronounced double ramp, with the apex over the keystone of the central arch. It is composed of five semicircular arches with different spans, perfectly outlined thanks to a molding that links them all, the central one being large and with a span of about 32.7 m.; the total length reached almost 100 m. and the maximum height 17 m. The layout of the bridge was modified in the 19th century by rectifying the grades, and thus eliminating the steep slope of the original ramps. In the middle of the 20th century, two long slopes covered with masonry were added, made when considering the current layout of the road with two curves leading in and out of the bridge, in contrast to the original straight road. The beauty and uniqueness of its proportions, the grandeur of its central arch which, like the rest, starts from the platform of the plinth, its excellent stonework and its authorship, perfectly documented as the work of Andrés de Vandelvira, make this bridge one of the most important examples within its genre in the Spanish artistic panorama of the 16th century, although not exempt from a certain previous resentment due to the pointed image of its layout generated by the pronounced ramps, drastically truncated in the reform reviewed. of the 19th century. As an emblem of the city that led to its construction, its shield is not preserved, if it ever had one, but a beautiful relief representing its patron, San Miguel Arcángel.
Is part of
