Marco Polo Bridge Bashny.Net

The name of the Marco Polo bridge because, as is, this is the bridge, which is admired the famous traveler: "Excellent bridge, so beautiful that he had hardly a rival in the world..."





Legendary bridge crosses the Yongding river in Beijing. The bridge is decorated with hundreds of intricately carved lions. Originally, in the days of Marco Polo, they were 627, but now we have enough, according to various estimates, 482 to 496. To count accurately is probably impossible. An interesting feature of these lions is the fact that many of them on the head, back, abdomen, or legs hiding other lions.





These statues appeared on the bridge at different times, from the twelfth century to the twentieth. The construction of a bridge started in 1189 and was completed in 1192. The length of the structure amounted to 266.5 meters, and its width is 9.3. 281 pillar supports the structure. At the ends of the bridge stand four ornamental columns, with a height of 4.65 meters, made of white marble.





And now, after more than 800 years of the Marco Polo Bridge is an extremely picturesque place, but he is famous not only for its antiquity and aesthetic qualities. The bridge is also a masterpiece of engineering and architectural thought. Design built of solid granite. It is a single large arch and surrounded by 10 small. Each of the 10 arches protected by triangular iron pillar, preventing flooding and icing.





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