![Bassano z01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Bassano_z01.JPG)
The Ponte Vecchio (Old bridge) or Ponte degli Alpini (bridge of the
Alpini
The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operatio ...
, who rebuilt it in 1948) is the covered wooden
pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maxi ...
designed by the architect
Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio ( ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one of th ...
in 1569. The bridge is located in
Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa ( vec, Basan or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo ...
and was destroyed many times, the last time in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The bridge spans the river
Brenta.
The Brenta river was an important means of communication in the 18th century from the mountains of
Grappa
Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume (70 to 120 US proof).
Grappa is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems (i.e., the poma ...
to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
.
History
The pre-existing bridge, existed from 1209 until 1569, was a wooden structure on pylons and covered by a roof and it constituted the fundamental road to guarantee the connection between Bassano and Vicenza.
In 1315, Bassano was involved in the war between
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
and
Cangrande della Scala
Cangrande (christened Can Francesco) della Scala (9 March 1291 – 22 July 1329) was an Italian nobleman, belonging to the della Scala family which ruled Verona from 1308 until 1387. Now perhaps best known as the leading patron of the poet Dante ...
. When the latter occupied Marostica and Angarano, two towers were built to defend the bridge.
In 1402, the war between
Gian Galeazzo
Gian Galeazzo Sforza (20 June 1469 – 21 October 1494), also known as Giovan Galeazzo Sforza, was the sixth Duke of Milan.
Early life
Born in Abbiategrasso, he was only seven years old when in 1476 his father, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was assa ...
and the
Carraresi
The House of Carrara or Carraresi (da Carrara) was an important family of northern Italy in the 12th to 15th centuries. The family held the title of Lords of Padua from 1318 to 1405.
Under their rule, Padua conquered Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, F ...
involved also Bassano: the lord of Milan tried to divert the Brenta river to deprive Padua of its defences by building a bridge consisting of 94 stone arches equipped with wooden doors used as shutters. In the night between 6 and 7 August a flood overwhelmed the bridge, which was destroyed.
In 1511, French troops under General
Jacques de La Palice
Jacques de La Palice (or de La Palisse) (1470 – 24 February 1525) was a French nobleman and military officer. He was the lord of Chabannes, La Palice, Pacy, Chauverothe, Bort-le-Comte and Héron. In 1511, he received the title of Grand Mas ...
set the bridge on fire to escape the Imperial army during the
War of the League of Cambrai
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...
.
Project by Andrea Palladio
![Pallarch3-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Pallarch3-2.jpg)
In October 1567, a vigorous flood of the river Brenta swept over the historic bridge. The architect Andrea Palladio was involved in the reconstruction from the months immediately following the collapse: he first designed a stone bridge completely different from the previous one, with three arches on the model of the ancient Roman bridges. However, the City Council rejected the project, requiring the architect not to deviate too much from the traditional structure.
In the summer of 1569, Palladio then presented a second final project of a wooden bridge that practically recalled the previous structure, although radically renewed in terms of technical and structural solutions and of great visual impact. The only reference to an architectural language is the use of Tuscan columns as supports of the
architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
that supports the two-pitched roof formed by a series of wooden trusses. The bridge has 5 bays about 13 meters long formed by large wooden beams with slanting breaker that are resting on the four intermediate pylons and on the two side shoulders. The 4 wooden pylons have a hydrodynamic shape compared to the current of the river and are formed by 8 poles about half a meter thick in the ground on the bed of the river and a series of poles at decreasing height that give an oblique profile to the intermediate pylons.
Demolitions and reconstructions
Confirming the technological efficiency of the Palladian structure, the bridge lasted for almost two hundred years, collapsing only because of the overwhelming flood of the Brenta on 19 August 1748. The bridge was rebuilt by Bartolomeo Ferracina faithfully following Palladio’s design.
In 1813, the bridge was then burnt down by Viceroy Eugenio di Beauharnais and later rebuilt in 1821 by Angelo Casarotti, with the same previous apparences.
During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the famous bridge was crossed by Italian troops to face the defence of the territories of the plateau of the Seven Municipalities.
The bridge was then razed to the ground for the third time on 17 February 1945: just after 7pm, when the curfew began, it was torn by a strong explosion. The sabotage action, which was part of a larger plan wanted by the Allies against the bridges of Pedemontana, was carried out by a group of 15
partisans all armed and cycling, two of which towed a cart each loaded with explosives. The attack unfortunately caused the death of a 50-year-old woman and a teenager. The commander of the group was Primo Visentin, a teacher of Loria (TV) who used the pseudonym of "Masaccio", as recalled by the plate still present today on the bridge. During a retaliation, the Nazis took three partisans from the prisons, Federico Alberti, Cesare Lunardi and Antonio Zavagnin, and shot them on the bridge with the usual sign bearing the words "I am a bandit". The bridge was rebuilt according to Palladio’s original design. It was inaugurated on 3 October 1948 with the presence of the Prime Minister
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953.
De Gasp ...
. It was rebuilt by Giulio Tessarolo & Figli di Rosà. Since many workers of this firm were veterans of war belonging to the Alpini Corps and wore the typical cap with a pen during the work, the legend arose that it was the Alpini who put it back together. The bridge was severely damaged for the last time by the exceptional flood of 4 November 1966, following which a systematic structural restoration was carried out. Two extraordinary interventions followed: the one of 1990–93 for static consolidation of the foundations and the supporting structures of the four styled, and the one of 2003–6, which was a complex of works of restoration and extraordinary maintenance to counter the inevitable deterioration of the protection products and the connection of the various elements of the bridge.
Recent works to check the stability of the structure and especially of the submerged parts, began at the end of 2015, but at the beginning of May 2018 the works were suspended. The work on the bridge was resumed in 2019 and on 12 February the bridge was raised about 45 cm in the collapsed area. The wooden foundations, completely degraded, have been completely replaced by lattice beams and pillars in stainless steel up to the lean level.
In June 2019, it was declared a National Monument (Law no. 65 of 5 July 2019).
References
External links
* Palladio Museum - https://www.palladiomuseum.org/veneto/opera/29?lang=en
*
Some images on postcards and calendars
historical and artistic iconographyTraditional song "Sul ponte di Bassano"*Attualità di Andrea Palladio
L'illustre Bassanese, spec. n. XXXIV, Editrice Artistica Bassano, published on May 23, 2018.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponte Vecchio Of Bassano
Covered bridges in Italy, Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, Bassano
Buildings and structures in the Province of Vicenza
Bridges in Veneto