I ponti di Verona

Duration: 6 and a half hours (approximately)

Distance: 7.7 kilometers

Difficulty: medium

Points of interest of the itinerary: Ponte Unità d'Italia | Ponte Catena | Ponte del Risorgimento | Ponte di Castelvecchio | Ponte della Vittoria | Ponte Garibaldi | Ponte Pietra | Ponte Nuovo | Ponte Navi | Ponte Aleardi | Ponte San Francesco | Ponte Francesco Giuseppe

The construction of a bridge has always been one of the greatest technical challenges. The environmental difficulties due to the presence of water, the particular functional requirements that imposed the use of first-rate materials and increasingly efficient structural types, made the bridge construction sites an extraordinary moment in the art of building, in which the prestige of the city or the entire country was condensed.

The twentieth-century urban development of Verona made it necessary to build new infrastructures, in particular those related to transport. In less than forty years as many as 17 bridges have been built: some were built ex-novo in the 1930s, such as Ponte della Vittoria and Ponte San Francesco, while others were rebuilt, such as Ponte Garibaldi or Ponte Aleardi, where the metal structures were replaced by more solid concrete reinforcements.

We begin today this unique itinerary from the farthest point from the historic center, located in the urban area connecting the areas of Borgo Trento, Chievo and Saval. The Ponte Unità d’Italia, formerly known as the Savàl Bridge, is a continuous reinforced concrete bridge designed by engineer Bruno Gentilini and architect Antonio Pasqualini. Opened in 1971, the bridge connects state road 12 with the Savàl district and with the city ring road, crossing the Adige. Following the bank and the slow pace of the river, we reach Ponte Catena. Built between December 1928 and October 1929 to the design of the architect Mario Dezzuti, it was designed with the aim of connecting the road to Brescia with the road to the Brenner, avoiding the traffic in the old town. Its name derives from the Middle Ages: in fact, in the area there was a system of access and control of river traffic, which blocked the night transit with chains, effectively blocking the passage of those who tried to avoid paying customs duties. Memory of this activity remains part of the ancient tower in the middle of the river. Like many bridges, it was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt a year later.

We proceed towards the old town and after a few steps to our right you can see the Ponte del Risorgimento. Designed by the architect Pier Luigi Nervi and built between February 1967 and March 1968 as a connection between the boroughs of Borgo Trento and San Zeno, it was built to celebrate the centenary of the Unification of Italy. Following the flow of the current we arrive at one of the most distinctive symbols of Verona, the Castelvecchio complex with the castle (that now hosts a museum) and the pedestrian bridge. Originally considered the most audacious and admirable work of the city's Middle Ages, the bridge was built between 1354 and 1356 by Cangrande II della Scala, with the function of having a safe escape route to Tyrol in the event of upheaval by enemy factions within the city. In 1802, following the French occupation, the tower on the country side and the battlements were removed in order to more easily accommodate the cannons. At the end of the Second World War, the bridge was blown up by the retreating German army and entirely rebuilt with brickwork and stone frontal beams on a project by the engineer Arturo Danusso and a team composed of the architect Piero Gazzola, the engineer Alberto Minghetti for the technical part and the architect Libero Cecchini for the artistic part.

After crossing the bridge on foot, we walk along Corso Cavour with its splendid palaces and, once we reach the ancient Porta Borsari, we come across Ponte della Vittoria on the left. Built between 1926 and 1929 on a project by Ettore Fagiuoli to celebrate the battle of Vittorio Veneto and the victory of the First World War, after the Second World War only the right arch of the bridge survived, and was integrated into the new bridge made of reinforced concrete and stone, but deprived of the previous decorations. On August 29th, 1953 the bridge was reopened to traffic and, after a heated public debate, the original bronze statues made by Mario Salazzari and Angelo Biancini were repositioned on the bases only in 1956. Walking along the tree-lined avenue of Lungadige Panvinio, we admire Ponte Garibaldi. In the nineteenth century, to facilitate the connection to Trento, an iron bridge of 75 meters long and 8,9 meters wide was built according to the design of the English engineer Alfredo Enrico Newille, with a toll for the transit of people and vehicles. Following the evolution of the district, the bridge was dismantled in 1934 and in its place a work in reinforced concrete was built and adorned with four groups of sculptures in tuff stone by the artist Ruperto Banterle, representing Garibaldi, the Helmsman, Anita and Agriculture. Because of the position of these statues it began to be called by the locals "ponte degli Strachi", or bridge of the tired, even though the name comes from a triumphant visit to the city on March 7th, 1867 by General Giuseppe Garibaldi. At the turn of World War II the bridge was destroyed, and reopened after reconstruction on November 10th, 1947.

Crossing the bridge we take the walk that leads from the Gardens dedicated to the psychiatrist and anthropologist Cesare Lombroso to the oldest bridge in Verona: Ponte Pietra. The Pons Lapideus, one of the first testimonies of the Roman presence in Verona, underwent many transformations and restorations over the centuries, the most important under Roman, medieval and Venetian domination. The bridge, destroyed in 1945 by the retreating German army, was rebuilt by a team composed of engineer Arturo Danusso and architects Piero Gazzola and Libero Cecchini for almost total anastilosis, with careful reliefs and recovering the original elements from the river. Work began on February 4th, 1957 and was completed on March 3rd, 1959.

Continuing along the tree-lined Lungadige Re Teodorico, you arrive at Ponte Nuovo (also called Ponte Umberto). Over the centuries, various wooden and stone bridges have alternated on this site, destroyed or demolished and then rebuilt. The project of 1529, by the architect Michele Sanmicheli, remained almost unchanged until September 1882 when, following the terrible flooding of Verona, it was hit by a mill that had broken its moorings causing its collapse. Replaced by a metal arch bridge, it was later demolished in 1938 due to traffic growth and rebuilt with a reinforced concrete structure, with slightly different location and direction. Following its destruction in 1945, it was one of the first bridges rebuilt by the municipal administration for viability's reasons. The bridge was covered with slabs of hammered Verona stone and inaugurated on October 16th, 1946.

After 400 metres walking, you will reach Ponte Navi. This bridge, which connects the area of Veronetta to the historical centre, has a key episode in the history of the city: on the bridge, in fact, took place the battle between Cangrande II della Scala and his half-brother Fregnano della Scala, who rose up against the legitimate prince, forcing him to return from his temporary journey to Bolzano. The lord of Verona suppressed the insurrection and threw Fregnano into the Adige, which drowned. Following this bloody event, as a vow of charity, he built a small church called Santa Maria della Vittoria. It survived the floods of 1757 and 1882, and was replaced first by an iron bridge and later by a marble beaved bridge. Bombed in 1945, it was rebuilt after the war following a public competition between 1947 and 1949, with a design made of elegant lines and clad in terracotta bricks to dialogue with the overlooking apses of the church of San Fermo.

We cross the bridge and, admiring the Gothic structure of the Church of San Fermo, turn left in the district called Filippini. A place rich in history that owes its name to the settlement in the area at the beginning of the eighteenth century of the religious of San Filippo Neri. The area was, together with Isolo, the commercial hub of the city in the Scaligeri era and one of the most important customs ports for the docking and unloading of goods of the Serenissima, second only to Venice. She is also known for a very famous marriage celebrated in the Church of San Fermo Minore in Brà in 1949, between the Veronese brick manufacturer Giovan Battista Meneghini and the American opera singer Maria Anna Cecilia Sofia Kalogeropoulos, known as the divine Maria Callas.

Once we reach the former slaughterhouse of the city, we find ourselves in front of Ponte Aleardi, dedicated to the poet and patriot Aleardo Aleardi. The bridge, opened to transit in 1950, was designed to connect more easily the city centre with the new monumental cemetery of Verona, designed by the architect Giuseppe Barbieri. The bridge was the last to be built with reinforced concrete: after the replacement of the old metal bridge not suitable for the transit of heavy goods vehicles, work on a new bridge began in 1937, but was suspended due to the war, and resumed only in 1949. We cross the road along the Police headquarters and after a short walk we reach Ponte San Francesco. The only bridge in the city to be dedicated to a saint, it was built between 1928 and 1930 to the design of the Turinese architect Arturo Midana. Completely destroyed in 1945, it was reinaugurated still incomplete on January 26th, 1950. Between 2011 and 2012 it was completely restored and enlarged both the road side and the pedestrian side.

The last stop on our route is Ponte Francesco Giuseppe, located at the beginning of the Adige South Park. Originally built under Austrian domination to allow the transit of the Milan-Venice railway line and inaugurated by Field Marshal Josef Radetzky, it was named after Emperor Franz Joseph I. The bridge, one of the least affected by the bombing in 1945, was soon restored. In a few minutes walk, you can return back to the ancient heart of the city, concluding the itinerary.

Project "The bridges of Verona" conceived by Associazione Agile with the contribution of the Municipality of Verona.