Most Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego, Kraków

This is Marshal Józef Piłsudski Bridge, the steel road bridge carrying you across the Vistula between Kazimierz and Podgórze. Opened on the nineteenth of January 1933, it is Kraków’s oldest surviving road bridge whose original structure remains complete. The bridge took seven years to build, beginning in September 1926 under a team led by Professor Andrzej Pszenicki.

Its riveted steelwork was made at the L. Zieleniewski machine factory, and the roadway originally had basalt block paving. Tram tracks were included from the beginning, though the first tram did not cross here until after the war. Notice the broad steel truss structure spanning the river: the bridge is 147.5 metres long, 18.5 metres wide, and weighs about 1,200 tonnes.

In January 1945, retreating German forces blew it up, dropping the southern span into the Vistula. A wooden footbridge served meanwhile; reconstruction allowed it to reopen in October 1948. Its official name changed then to Tadeusz Kościuszko Bridge, but Kraków residents continued calling it Piłsudski Bridge, the name formally restored in 1990. The 2020 renovation replaced damaged, corroded rivets and added lighting to the blue steelwork and stone supports.