The Ponte dei Saraceni is an ancient stone and brick bridge, presumably originally built by the Ancient Romans, over the river Simeto in Adrano, region of Sicily, Italy. While the base of the bridge at parts is likely of the original Roman construction, it was apparently rebuilt during the Norman conquest, leading to the arch framed in stones of alternating colors and creating an acute angle arch. Further damage occurred during the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7. ...

, leading again to reconstruction, but by the end of the 18th-century, the bridge was downgraded to a pedestrian trail, while the Biscari aqueduct bridge (begun in 1761 and completed in 1791) replaced the function of being the connection to

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

form Northwest Sicily. The smaller arches of the bridge differ in sizes and angle, are reconstructions done after a flood in 1948. Upstream of the river (or stream) the water has made grooves into the volcanic lava.Visit Catania website
entry on bridge.

References

Roman bridges in Italy Stone bridges in Italy Bridges in Sicily Buildings and structures in Adrano {{Italy-struct-stub