The Church of Santa Anastasia’s 1400s brick tower rises beyond an important Roman monument in Verona, Veneto, Italy: the donkey-back Ponte della Pietra (Stone Bridge) spanning the alpine River Adige. The original Pons Marmoreus carried the busy Via Postumia Roman road linking Verona to cities in Italy's far west and east, but often collapsed in floods and was rebuilt partly in brick. Retreating German troops blew up four of the five arches in 1945. Today’s bridge, rebuilt in the 1950s, has two eastern stone Roman arches, two 16th century Venetian arches and a western arch rebuilt in 1298.
Verona, Veneto, Italy: the 15th century brick campanile of the Church of Santa Anastasia rises beyond the western arches of the donkey-back Ponte della Pietra, the city’s oldest bridge and one of its most important Roman monuments. The first bridge to span the fast-flowing alpine waters of the River Adige here was probably made of wood. From 148 BC it carried the Via Postumia, the Roman road linking Genoa in northern Italy’s far west to Aquileia in the far east. The crossing, then known as the Pons Marmoreus, also gave Roman Verona’s citizens easy access to their east bank theatre. The Romans rebuilt the bridge in white Valpolicella stone, but it came under stress when the Adige was in full spate, collapsing in 1007, 1153, 1232 and 1239. Alberto I della Scala, lord of Verona, rebuilt the westernmost arch in 1298. In time, the structure, now known as the Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge) gained an aqueduct and many wooden houses, huts, shops and taverns. A watchtower stood at either end of its (304 ft) span. After a further collapse in 1503, the City fathers asked architect and engineer Fra Giovanni Giocondo to oversee yet another rebuild. After 1520, the bridge comprised the two eastern Roman stone arches, two rebuilt stone and brick arches, and the medieval arch of 1298. The east tower was demolished in 1801 and the city then cleared the homes, shops and taverns, declaring them incompatible with the bridge’s Roman grandeur. The Ponte Pietra’s turbulent history took a final turn as World War II ended in Europe. On 25 April 1945, as Italian partisans liberated Milan and Turin, retreating German troops detonated mines to blow up four of the arches; only the easternmost Roman arch survived. The bridge was rebuilt in 1957-9 after hundreds of the Roman stone blocks were dredged up from the riverbed and mixed with new or reworked stone to re-create the Roman arches. Much of the medieval brickwork was also recovered and re-used.
Size: 4137px × 2754px
Location: Verona, Veneto, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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