The first bridge dated from 1536. It stood closer to the present-day Mindaugas Bridge. It was a wooden covered bridge with brick and stone piers. It had a second floor with apartments for toll collectors. Because its builder Ulryk Hozjusz wanted to recoup the cost by collecting tolls, Grand Duke Sigismund the Old granted him a privilege prohibiting others from building any other bridges between Kernavė and Bistrica (Быстрыца in Belarus) or to offer other crossing services between Verkiai and Paneriai. The bridge was burned by retreating Lithuanian Army commanded by Janusz Radziwiłł after the Battle of Vilnius (1655).