Pontoon Bridge

Illustration by Arturo Redondo of the Pontoon Bridge (Puente de Barcas) in Seville in 1519.

From the days of the Almohads, a wooden bridge, held in place with tethered barges, connected the city with the nautical quarter of Triana. The huge floods and swellings of the Guadalquivir—which had not yet been tamed—meant that a steadier, more permanent method of crossing was not possible. Wine, oil, grains, and other products from the regions of Aljarafe and Niebla had to be transported over this strategic bridge, just as the residents of one bank crossed to the other, along with soldiers on expedition, travelers, and pilgrims. The bridge was also the crossing place of the tragic figures wearing the San Benito, a scapular-like garment worn by those branded heretics by the Spanish Inquisition in the Castle of San Jorge. They crossed the wooden platform of the creaking pontoon bridge, often for the last time.