Ponte Eiffel

The Eiffel Bridge or Ponte Rodo-Ferroviária de Viana do Castelo, was designed by Gustave Eiffel and inaugurated on June 30, 1878. This iron structure, 645 meters long, has two metal decks: the upper deck for car and pedestrian traffic and the lower deck for railway traffic.

This was the first rail and road bridge built in Portugal, and it connects the two margins of the Lima River, the city of Viana do Castelo and the town of Darque. The construction of this bridge, replacing an old wooden bridge, as with the implementation of the railway and the enlargement of the port area, had a profound impact on the city’s development, projecting it even further on the national scene.

In October 2020, the Direção-Geral do Património Cultural submitted a proposal for its classification as a National Monument, but this classification has not been completed to date.