Purana Pul or Old Bridge is the most famous of the four bridges of Hyderabad. It was built in 1578 by Sultan lbrahim Qutb Shah, the king of Golconda. There are 22 arches to this elegant bridge. It is 600 feet long, 35 feet broad and 54 feet above the river-bed. At this point the river is very narrow and the banks steep. Tavernier, the celebrated French jeweller, traveller and historian, wrote of this “bridge of love” when he visited Hyderabad in 1676: “At Bhagyanagar you cross the river over a bridge no less beautiful than the Pont Neuf at Paris”.