VYVYAN.

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STUPENDOUS BRIDGE IN SPAIN.


[Illustration]


Bridges are amongst the noblest, if not the most ancient, triumphs of
human art. Many of the specimens of former ages are admired for their
massive solidity, as well as for the beauty of their architectural
decoration. The present bridge, a fabric of the last century, has neither
of these attractions, though it is constructed upon the best principle of
modern bridge-building--that of having one single arch. Péronnet and De
Chezi, two celebrated engineers, who are regarded as the founders of a new
school of bridge architecture in France, made it their study to render the
piers as light, and the arches as extended and lofty as possible; and the
above bridge is a handsome structure of this class. It has been objected
that the modern French bridges have not that character of strength and
solidity which the ancient bridges possessed, and that in the latter, the
eye is generally less astonished, but the mind more satisfied, than in the
former. To these objections the Spanish bridge is by no means liable, as
we shall proceed to show from its details.

The present bridge extends across the river, Guadiaro, in the South of
Spain, and connects the romantic city of Ronda with its suburbs. The
situation of the city, encircled by Guadiaro, is described by Mr. Jacob,[5]