Trajan's Bridge
Trajan's Bridge | |
|---|---|
Artistic reconstruction (1907) | |
| Coordinates | 44°37′26″N 22°40′01″E / 44.623769°N 22.66705°E |
| Crossed | Danube |
| Locale | Drobeta-Turnu Severin (Romania), Kladovo (Serbia) |
| Heritage status | Monuments of Culture of Exceptional Importance, and Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance (Serbia) |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Wood, stone |
| Total length | 1,135 m (3,724 ft) |
| Width | 15 m (49 ft) |
| Height | 19 m (62 ft) |
| No. of spans | 20 masonry pillars |
| History | |
| Architect | Apollodorus of Damascus |
| Construction start | 103 AD |
| Construction end | 105 AD |
| Collapsed | Superstructure destroyed by Aurelian around 270 AD |
| Statistics | |
| Official name | Pontes with Trajan's Bridge |
| Type | Archeological Site of Exceptional Importance |
| Designated | 28 March 1981 |
| Reference no. | AN 44 |
| Location | |
Trajan's Bridge (Romanian: Podul lui Traian; Serbian: Трајанов мост, romanized: Trajanov most), also called Bridge of Apollodorus over the Danube, was a Roman segmental arch bridge, the first bridge to be built over the lower Danube and considered one of the greatest achievements in Roman architecture. Though it was only functional for 165 years, it is often considered to have been the longest arch bridge in both total span and length for more than 1,000 years.
The bridge was completed in 105 AD and designed by Emperor Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus before the Second Dacian War to allow Roman troops to cross the river. Fragmentary ruins of the bridge's piers are still in existence.