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Roman Bridge of Catribana

Roman bridge near Sintra, Portugal

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ17389990 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Roman Bridge of Catribana is located near the village of Catribana in the parish of São João das Lampas, in the municipality of Sintra in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Not being identified as a Roman bridge until the 1980s, and having suffered considerable degradation, it was restored in 2019.

The bridge, which crosses the Bolelas stream, is made of local limestone blocks. It is likely to have provided access for a Roman villa to a main road or connected two important Roman villas at the time when the area was part of the Roman Olisipo (roughly corresponding to the modern-day Lisbon Municipality), in the province of Lusitania, which formed part of the Roman Empire. It is composed of a single arch and parapet, and has undergone several changes over the centuries. On its south side is a section of a Roman path, about 50 meters long, which gives access to the bridge. Close to the bridge archaeologists have identified vestiges of a Roman-era cemetery together with remains of a Neolithic settlement.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Roman Bridge of Catribana” is roman bridge near Sintra, Portugal. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Roman, Bridge and Catribana, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2019—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Roman, Bridge and Catribana is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “roman bridge near Sintra, Portugal” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17389990. Authority coordinates are 38.889, -9.414. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2019.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Roman Bridge of Catribana”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Roman Bridge of Catribana primary sources, Roman Bridge of Catribana archive and Roman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Roman Bridge of Catribana”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Roman Bridge of Catribana” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.