Free Guides Portugal Secreto: Cross the wire bridge that no longer connects the banks of the Tâmega
It once served as an important link to both banks, but the Daivões dam forced this bridge, built in the early 20th century, in wire and wood, to change location. A secret that we are discovering in Ribeira de Pena and which is included in the guides Portugal Secreto – The places that tourists (yet) don’t know, invited from the Express to this Thursday, June 9th.
When it was ordered to gather by the priest of the land, Alrubino Afonso was able to complete, in 1913, the connection of connections to the banks of Salvador and Santo Aleixo de Além-Tâmega, no one would imagine that one day this emblematic bridge of “house”. But the construction of the Daivões dam and the consequent rise of the waters, compromised the existence of the structure, which exceeds 20 meters in length and is suspended by more than 100 cables of twisted wire. Immediately, an idea came up to preserve it, moving it to another location, but keeping it in the region. Currently in the town of Santo Aleixo, the wire bridge no longer crosses the river, but preserves a good part of its original features and from there you can see the reservoir. The granite pillars that rested on both sides were recovered and the original dimensions were maintained: 20 meters long and a wooden walkway 1.5 meters wide. All the remaining structure for intervention object is reinforced with steel, wire and wood.
Despite the change in location, the bridge continues to be part of the Caminho do Abade route, a linear trail, 6.5 km long, which covered asphalt, pavement and sections. With an easy degree of difficulty, this route connects the Mother Church of Ribeira de Pena to the Mother Church of Santo Aleixo de Além-Tâmega. passing through the historic wire bridge.
This text was provided with the Portugal Secreto Guide – Porto e Norte, Boa Cama Boa Mesa adapted with production by Expresso in the June 9, 2022 edition.
This collection of seven guides decided by the tourism regions (Porto, Centro, Lisbon and Ribate, Alentejo, Algarve, Azores and Madeira Norte), with Expresso this Thursday, June 9, and for seven weeks, invited to discover the country in 350 suggestions. The cover illustrations are by Pedro Lourenço.
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