LECCO: PONTE VECCHIO BRIDGE, Lecco : Ponte Vecchio

Hi, I am Rick, your personal guide, and together with MyWoWo I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

It is no coincidence that this imposing 131-meter-long stone structure is called Ponte Vecchio (the Old Bridge), since it was built seven centuries ago, between 1336 and 1338.

Its real name is Ponte Azzone Visconti, after the Lord of Milan who had it erected at this point to join the two banks of the Adda River, the only river flowing from Lake Como.

You should know that before power passed into Azzone's hands, his grandfather Matteo I Visconti had razed Lecco to the ground, but his grandson decided to turn it into a fortified settlement by building a city wall, a castle and the bridge you are now admiring.

Initially there were 8 arches, then it was decided to widen the riverbed, as the bottleneck of the lake caused frequent flooding at this point, and between 1349 and 1354 two more bays were added. It was only in 1440, under the rule of the Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza, that the last arch was built....