How Guadalajara lost and found a huge stone bridge built by women

[Judi Lynn]

For nearly a century, the missing Puente de Damas bridge was under residents' feet

By John Pint
Published on Friday, May 13, 2022

A few years ago the story broke.

“¡Lo encontraron!” ran the headlines. They found it! They found Guadalajara’s legendary lost bridge, el Puente de las Damas (the Ladies’ Bridge). There really was such a thing, and at last we know where it is!

This, I thought, was an interesting piece of news, but to me, it seemed a mere nothing in comparison with the much bigger story: that the city had managed to lose the bridge in the first place.

“What?” I exclaimed, “a hundred years ago, Guadalajara lost a bridge 50 meters long 12 meters wide and 15 meters high?”

From the moment I heard the story, I was determined to visit the Ladies’ Bridge in the hope that seeing it up close would reveal how in the world they had managed to lose track of a structure weighing countless tons.



A guide points out the heavy basalt blocks used in the construction of the bridge’s arches.

More:
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/mexicolife/guadalajara-lost-and-found-a-bridge/

[Judi Lynn]

1. More to add, from the article:

Guadalajara of the late 1700s was inhabited by mestizos and Spaniards, we learned. To the south, the town ended at a river running through a gully known as el Arroyo del Arenal. On the other side of the gully lived the indigenous people in their own town, appropriately called Mexicalzingo, which means “the place inhabited by the honorable Mexicans.”

Many people were ultra-pious in those days, and the ladies of lineage had the custom of crossing the river every Friday to go visit a celebrated crucifix ensconced in the church of Saint John the Baptist on the other side.

The crucifix was known as The Lord of Penance because once upon a time, teachers used to send their disobedient students to say their penance while kneeling in front of it.

. . .

Not only was it impossible for the ladies to visit the church, it was equally impossible for the indigenous people to come to work in the ladies’ homes as servants and laborers.

[niyad]

2. Thank you for sharing this amazing find with us. Talk about literally burying women's HERstory.