The left and the right banks of the So;a downstream of Kobarid, at
the narrowest point of the gorge, had already been connected with a bridge
in the distant past. As earlz as 1616, the Venetians tore down an old wooden
bridge.
The original Napoleon Bridge was built in 1750 as a single-arch stone
bridge. Later on, Napoleon´s troops marched across it towards the Predel
pass, for which reason the locals named it Napoleon Bridge. The first day
after the war was declared in World War I, the retreating Austrian soldiers
blew up Napoleon Bridge on 24 May 1915, in hope to prevent the pursuit
of the Italian Army. Then, the Italians built first a wooden bridge, and
later on, an iron one. The existing stone bridge was built after World
War I. During World War II., the bridge was a scene of bloody events. The
partisans (fighters against the nazis and facists) defended the liberated
territory of Kobarid Republic at the bridge as well. There are two memorial
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