Mária Valéria bridge

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The Mária Valéria bridge joins Esztergom in Hungary and Štúrovo in Slovakia, across the River Danube. The bridge is over 500 metres in length.

The bridge was destroyed twice since its opening in 1895. First bridge was destroyed in 1920, and rebuilt in 1927, and the second time during World War II in 1944. It was blown up along with the other brigdes of Esztergom by retreating German troops. Decades of intransigence from the two countries' governments during the Cold War meant that the bridge was not rebuilt until the new millennium, finally reopening in October 11, 2001. Half the costs of the project were covered by a 10 million Euro grant from the European Union, as part of the EU PHARE project, to assist applicant countries in their preparations to join the EU. The rebuilding of the bridge helped the local industry and gave a boost to the economy in the Ister-Granum euroregion.