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Origin and history

The Saint-Étienne Bridge, built at the beginning of the 13th century in Limoges, is one of two medieval bridges crossing Vienna, with the Saint-Martial Bridge. 120 meters long and 5 meters wide, it is supported by seven uneven arches in broken arches, designed to withstand currents. Originally, it linked the City (district of the cathedral) to the rest of the city, allowing the inhabitants to free themselves from the dependence on the old Saint-Martial bridge, controlled by the Castle. Completed in 1203, it integrated the defensive system of the City, protected by two towers equipped with drawbridges at its ends.

During the Middle Ages, the bridge played a strategic role in facilitating exchanges between the two shores while strengthening the protection of the City. Over the centuries, it was repaired (especially in 1619 and 1854) and nearly demolished in 1903, before being saved by public mobilization. Ranked a historic monument in 1907, it became a symbol of the limo heritage, today reserved for pedestrians and borrowed by the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela on the way to Vézelay.

In the industrial era, the bridge marked the limit of wood flotation on Vienna, an activity essential to fuel the porcelain ovens of Limoges, including the famous Four des Casseaux. The "branchers" (framebarriers) built around 1760 and destroyed in 1897 held the logs upstream, while the wood port (Port du Naveix) stored the resources. On the right bank, the washer houses, active until the middle of the 20th century, recall domestic activities related to the river.

Architecturally, the bridge is distinguished by its foreshores (upstream side) and foothills (downstream side), designed to withstand flooding. Its autonomous arches, of varying sizes (between 10.10 m and 12.50 m), illustrate medieval ingenuity. A postage stamp issued in 1955 immortalizes the bridge alongside Saint-Étienne Cathedral, highlighting its cultural importance. Today, he embodies both a defensive vestige, an art work and a place of memory for the Limougeauds.

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