The medieval bridge at Puente Sampayo spans the Verdugo river between the municipalities of Soutomaior and Pontevedra, a few kilometres downstream from the castle. It is a fine piece of Romanesque-Gothic bridge construction, with a series of pointed arches and a slight hump that gives it the characteristic profile of medieval Galician bridge-building. The Verdugo at this point is tidal — technically the bridge marks the boundary between river and estuary — and at low tide the stone piers are exposed, revealing the full depth of the foundation work.
The bridge achieved lasting fame from the Battle of Puente Sampayo in 1809, when Galician volunteer forces repelled a French army attempting to push north through this corridor. A small museum and monument near the bridge commemorate the battle. The setting is pleasant regardless of the historical associations — the river here is broad and slow, fishing boats are often moored below the bridge, and the village on the far bank retains a few old stone houses that give some sense of what the approach to the bridge must have looked like in the eighteenth century.