Ponte Scaligero

Ponte Scaligero. (Open Map)
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Description

In front of the Castelvecchio keep there is the Scaligeri Bridge (Ponte Scaligero), stretching over the river Adige, now only used as a pedestrian walkway.
Built in the second half of the 14th century, this massive structure is made of bricks, has three spans of different length along with fortifications and battlements.
Blown up by the withdrawing German troops during World War II, it was rebuilt in 1951 with its original bricks and stones retrieved from the river bed.
Traces of reused construction materials dating back to the Roman Age are still visible: a series of Corinthian capitals are walled-in in the the first pylon on Castelvecchio side (they are visible only when the river runs dry, and one of them has been digged out and placed on the walkway); and a Roman gravestone, near the access on the Arsenal side (found in the foundations during the 1945 reconstruction).