Arouca 516 Suspension Bridge 175 metres above the River Paiva. The worlds longest footbridge in the world.
To understand the origin of 516 Arouca, we have to go back to 2005, when the Municipality of Arouca had the vision to create a Geopark. In this territory, the existence of a valuable geological heritage was recognized, with four geosites of international relevance, such as the mysterious birthing stones or the fossils of the largest trilobites in the world, which, together with the remaining natural and cultural heritage of the territory, justified the creation of the Arouca UNESCO World Geopark.
UNESCO’s recognition aroused even more interest and attracted visitors from new and many countries. With tourism assuming itself as a strategic axis for local and national economic development and with growing competitiveness, the Arouca Geopark continued to create new centers of tourist attraction. That is how, on June 20, 2015, the Municipality of Arouca inaugurated the, today internationally known, Passadiços do Paiva
It was in the surroundings of the Paiva Walkways, next to the Aguieiras waterfall, that the 516 Arouca was born, yet another unique work that makes the region a global reference. The world’s longest suspended pedestrian bridge connects the two banks, 175 meters above the Paiva River.
A work carried out under the presidency of the first woman at the head of the City Council, Margarida Belém, with monitoring and supervision carried out by the Planning and Works Division of the Arouquense municipality and co-financed by the PROVERE program – Program for the Economic Valorization of Endogenous Resources of the ERDF – European Fund of Regional Development – North 2020.
For the Municipality of Arouca, the construction of 516 Arouca was a unique and enriching opportunity. After all, shaping an ambitious project brings a great responsibility, but also a significant privilege to have such an emblematic infrastructure as this one in the municipality.
The bridge has been nominated for:
Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction Development Project 2021, so lets all vote to firmly put this majestic achievement on the European and Worldwide map; it so rightly deserves:
https://www.worldtravelawards.com/award-europes-leading-tourist-attraction-development-project-2021
