Devils Bridge Italy

by Joan Carroll

Title

Devils Bridge Italy

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Photography And Digital Art

Description

Having seen some photos of what is called either the Devil’s Bridge or the Maddalena Bridge, I knew I had to go see it for myself! It’s just outside a town called Borgo a Mozzano, north of Lucca Italy. The bus from Lucca left very early so I elected to take the train. The train station, however, is a couple of kilometers away from the bridge. But it was a pleasant walk and I stopped a few times to visit some churches and other landmarks. The approach to the bridge from town on the west is obscured (photographically speaking) by the train tracks. This occurred as long ago as 1889 when the structure of the bridge on the west side was modified to allow the passage of the train line. A part of the bridge was demolished and a ramp was built over the train tracks. So I hiked over the bridge to the east side where there is a viewpoint to the south. On the day I was there, the tree trimmers were doing their thing leaving only one spot where you might stand for a photo. So I walked over to this north side, where unfortunately, there is little to no shoulder on the road! Luckily traffic was sparse so I just sucked in my stomach each time a car passed. According to legend, the bridge was built by Saint Julian who, unable to complete the hard project, asked the Devil for help, offering him in return the soul of the first living being who would have crossed the finished bridge (nice guy, how’d he get to be a saint?!). Once the bridge was finished, Saint Julian threw a piece of bread onto the bridge, luring a dog to cross it, cheating the Devil. Other historical information attributes the bridge building to Matilde di Canossa (1046-1125) and mentions a restoration made by Castruccio Castracani (1281-1328.) According to the hypothesis of Massimo Betti, during the Castruccio government the minor arches were constructed in stone, replacing previous structure in wood.

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joan carroll, arch, serchio, river, architecture, devil, tuscany, medieval, crossing, building, water, ponte del diavolo

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March 28th, 2019

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