In 1599 the Bearnese master mason Ramón de Argelas rebuilt the old Canfranc bridge that had been washed away by the flooding of the Aragon river. He left written record of the fact inscribed on a stone on the north wall of the bridge: “Ramon me fecic “(Ramon built me).

At the time it was known in the villaje as “Pon Nou” (new bridge), according to the specific local Canfranc dialect which originated from Occitan and was spoken in the area until the beginning of the19th century. The bridge is 35 metres long, of which 15 metres belong to the single span arch that crosses the river Aragón. During the construction of the bridge, different qualities of stone were used – ashlars in the base and curve of the arch, and ordinary rough stone in the walls.


The date of the reconstruction firmly excludes it from the Romanesque style, as has been generally claimed over the last few years. Only a few remains of the medieval base are visible, while the rest of the construction was built, as has been said, at the end of the 16th century.