The Stone Bridge or Verdugo Bridge

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Memory spaces

Popularly known as the Stone Bridge, this structure was sited on the Guiniguada ravine. It started to the north at calle Muro and finished to the south along vía Obispo Codina. In previous centuries, the city was split into two by the Guiniguada ravine, making it necessary to built a range of rudimentary bridges, which were systematically swept away by heavy rains. It was referred to as the Puente de Verdugo by Manuel Verdugo y Albiturria (1749-1816). He was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on 22nd August 1749, in a traditional military family which established itself in our city back in 1706. He went to the convent of Santo Domingo, and thereafter studied at the universities of Alcalá de Henares and Valladolid on the mainland. At 19 he gained his doctorate qualification at the University of Valencia. On his return, Bishop Verdugo did great charity work for asylums, hospitals, churches, convents and needy families. Using his own personal fortune, he contributed to the completion of the hospital, the creation of a hospice, the building of the Concililary Seminary, repairs to the cemetery of Las Palmas and the decoration to the Plaza de Santa Ana. He also contributed to the layout, repair and construction of roads and several parishes around many villages in the interior of Gran Canaria.

But his greatest contribution consisted of his help in the building of the ashlar stone bridge with statues across the Guiniguada ravine. For this project he invested a huge amount of money for that time. This bridge served as a permanent link between the neighbouring districts of Vegueta and Triana, which, until this time, had often been cut off from eachother when currents had washed away the single,weak old stick bridge on several occasions. As recognition for this, the city named the bridge after him. Known popularly as the Stone Bridge, it was suppressed to allow the motorway to be built over the Guiniguada ravine.

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