The Quezon Bridge, formerly known as the Claveria Bridge, is a suspension bridge that connects Manila's Quiapo and Ermita neighbourhoods, located on opposite banks of the Pasig River. It was designed by Basque engineer Matías Mechacatorre and was the first suspension bridge in Asia. Today. under the bridge in the Quipao neighbourhood, there are various souvenir shops selling handicrafts.
People still call the Quezon Bridge Puente Colgante, which can be translated from Spanish as "hanging bridge". Its construction began in 1849 and and lasted three years. The grand opening of the new bridge took place in 1852 - it was named Puente de Claveria in honor of the Philippine Governor General Narciso Claveria y Zaldua, who held this post from 1844 to 1849. The length of the suspension bridge is 110 metres long and 7 metres wide. In the early years, it had two lines on which horse-drawn carriages and buffalo carts travelled. It was also it was also used by pedestrians who needed to get from Quiapo to the Intramúmu fortress district Intramuros fortress district.
The writer Nick Joaquin described the bridge in the 1870s: "The amazing Puente Colgante bridge has now been erected across the river, soaring in the air like a fireworks in honor of the coming century of science and technology. The new industrial era found expression in the Philippines with the construction of unparalleled bridges throughout Asia.” They say that it was thanks to this bridge that Manila was once called the "Paris of the East".
In the 1930s, the suspension bridge was rebuilt and transformed into a modern steel steel structure. It was renamed Quezon Bridge in honour of Manuel Quezon, then President of the Philippines. Rumour has it that the famous French architect was involved in the design of the new look the famous French architect Gustave Eiffel, the father of the Eiffel Tower. However, so far the rumours remain only rumours, because Eiffel died in 1923, almost 10 years before the grand reconstruction began.
