Ponte Pietra (Verona)

{{Infobox Bridge

|bridge_name = Ponte Pietra
(Pons Lapideus)

|image = Ponte Pietra a Verona.jpg

|caption = The arch at the far left is the only one which escaped destruction in 1945.

|official_name =

|carries =

|crosses = Adige River

|locale = Verona, Italy

|maint =

|id =

|designer =

|design = Arch bridge

|material = Travertine, brick

|spans = 5

|pierswater =

|mainspan =

|length = 120 m

|width =

|height =

|load =

|clearance =

|below =

|traffic =

|begin =

|complete = 100 BC
1957

|open =

|heritage =

|collapsed =

|preceded =

|followed =

|closed = April 1945 (4 of 5 spans destroyed)

|toll =

|coordinates = {{coord|45.4477|10.9999|display=inline,title}}

}}

The Ponte Pietra (Italian for "Stone Bridge") is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy. The bridge was completed in 100 BC, and the Via Postumia from Genoa to Aquileia passed over it. It is the oldest bridge in Verona.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4t4nafwuNsC&pg=PA266 | title=Time Out Venice: Verona, Treviso, and the Veneto | publisher=Time Out Guides | author=((Editors of Time Out ))| year=2013 | pages=266}}

It originally flanked another Roman bridge, the Pons Postumius (called Pons Marmoreus and at Middle Ages was called Fractus - broken, now remain some fragments); both structures provided the city (on the right bank) with access to the Roman theatre on the east bank. The arch nearest to the right bank of the Adige was rebuilt in 1298 by Alberto I della Scala. Four arches of the bridge were blown up by retreating German troops in World War II, but rebuilt in 1957 with original materials.

See also

Notes and references

{{Reflist}}

  • {{Citation

| last = Galliazzo

| first = Vittorio

| title = I ponti romani. Catalogo generale

| volume = 2

| year = 1994

| publisher = Edizioni Canova

| location = Treviso

| isbn = 88-85066-66-6

| pages = 223–226 (No. 456)}}

  • {{Citation

| last = O’Connor

| first = Colin

| title = Roman Bridges

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| year = 1993

| pages = 93f. (I169)

| isbn = 0-521-39326-4}}