Bridges over the River Turia: Genesis of the Urban History of Valencia

Abstract

The foundation of the city of Valencia was created by the Romans on an island formed by the River Turia, strategically located between Carthago Nova (Cartagena) and Tarraco (Tarragona), and is directly connected to the sea. This raises the question of how the elements of access to the city came about and how the river and its bridges might have affected its evolution. This article delves into the study of the origins of the city, with a time frame that extends into the 11th century, the time at which an event took place that confirms one of the major changes in the city’s urban morphology: when it stopped being an island. The intrinsic relationship that exists between bridges and main communication routes as fundamental elements to the access of an island is the driving force behind this article, which is based on research, until now undone, on the existence and construction of the first bridges in the city of Valencia and their influence on the city’s subsequent development. This paper will start by studying the founding and location of this city and will then analyze the communication routes existing at the time. It will also study the communication routes that were created later and how all of them were forced to cross a fluvial accident, the River Turia. For this purpose, the number of bridges built until the city ceased to be an island have been identified, and analyses of their typology, location and who was responsible for them has been carried out to study how they may have affected the normal flow and evolution of the riverbed and their possible influence on the city’s development.