There Was No End To Building The Bridge Until A Mason Was Bricked Up In It As Propitiatory Sacrifice. Only The Monk Gjon, The 14Th-Century Chronicler, Could Say When The Bridge Was Begun And In What Circumstances, And Indeed What For - It Cannot Have Been Merely To Put The Ferrymen Out Of Business. And Was It To Carry Troops To The Defence Of The Nations Against The Invading Turks, Or As An Escape-Route When The Armies Were Overthrown By The Invaders? The Monk Discloses The Story Layer By Layer, The Story Not Only Of The Building Of A Bridge But Of The Intrigues, Brutality And Superstition That Attended The Laying Of Each Stone.