The increased importance of Toledo as the capital of Castile necessitated the improvement of its communications with the outside world. The Bridge of Alcantara was, at the time of the Reconquest, the only permanent traject across the Tagus, and the bridge of boats on the western side of the town having been swept away, Alfonso X. (1252-1289) decreed the construction of a stone bridge now known as the Puente de San Martin. It was built of five arches and lasted till the reign of Pedro I., when it was blown up by that king’s partisans to obstruct the entry of Enrique de Trastamara. It continued in a practically demolished condition for twenty years, when the great archbishop, Pedro Tenorio, determined to restore the missing arches at his own expense. It is said that the architect entrusted with the work found, to his dismay, the night before the day fixed for the opening, that, owing to some oversight in his calculations, the whole fabric would collapse on the removal of the scaffolding. He made known the cause of his anxiety to his wife; and she rose at dead of night, and setting fire to the whole structure preserved her husband’s reputation and, not impossibly, his life. The reconstructed bridge was, of course, without fault or flaw. A final reconstruction took place in 1690. On the town side, the Puente de San Martin is defended by two square towers. Above the archway are two inscriptions relating to the works executed by order of Charles II. The further extremity of the bridge is defended by another square battlemented tower with a horseshoe arch. Its two bridges are among the most picturesque features of Toledo. With the obvious exception of the cathedral, the most interesting monuments of what we may term the middle age of Toledo are the two synagogues, now styled Santa Maria la Blanca and El Transito. The Jews, as we have seen, everywhere loom large in the annals of Toledo.