Ponte Dei Mulini, Mantua on:
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The Ponte dei Mulini is the name attached to the mainly man-made separations made across the 
Circa the year 1188, the architect Alberto Pitentino designed a series of dams to flood the swampy area North and West of the medieval city of Mantua. This set of walls create the Lago Superiore. Use of the kinetic energy of the water flow was directed through at least 12 dozen mills, each named after a separate apostle, built along the dam. Work continued on the structure until 1230.
During the wars of the Visconti and Gonzaga in the 14th century, one effort was to try to rechannel the Mincio, but the effort failed and a breached dam cause a portion of the structure to be damaged, leading to the construction of a rounded dam called ''della rota''.
At the north end of the bridge, circa 1530, Parco del Mincio
website. Presently, the structure has a both track and a major highway SS262. On the northeast flank is a tree-lined bicycle and pedestrian lane. A lock allows for boats to traverse from one side to the other. A covered bridge once emerging from the city is also no longer extant.
Mincio River
The Mincio (; ; ; ; ) is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.
The river is the main outlet of Lake Garda. It is a part of the ''Sarca-Mincio'' river system which also includes the river Sarca and the Lake Garda. The river starts ...
at Mantua
Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
, region of Lombardy, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Never truly one "bridge" however the harnessed passage of the water from the upper, Lago Superiore, to the lower Lago di Mezzo, has been utilized by the local inhabitants to power mills for nearly 900 years, and hydroelectric generation in the present.
Circa the year 1188, the architect Alberto Pitentino designed a series of dams to flood the swampy area North and West of the medieval city of Mantua. This set of walls create the Lago Superiore. Use of the kinetic energy of the water flow was directed through at least 12 dozen mills, each named after a separate apostle, built along the dam. Work continued on the structure until 1230.
During the wars of the Visconti and Gonzaga in the 14th century, one effort was to try to rechannel the Mincio, but the effort failed and a breached dam cause a portion of the structure to be damaged, leading to the construction of a rounded dam called ''della rota''.
At the north end of the bridge, circa 1530, Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua (first as Marquis, later as Duke) from 1519 until his death. He was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536.
Biography
Federico was son of Frances ...
commissioned from Giulio Romano
Giulio Pippi ( – 1 November 1546), known as Giulio Romano and Jules Romain ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the ...
construction of a fortress, Porta Giulia, defending access to the city. It was restored in 1752 by the engineer Antonio Maria Azzalini under the patronage of Empress Maria Teresa.
In 1851 the Verona-Mantua railway was completed, requiring further railway bridges to be built. Allied bombardment of this rail line in 1944 razed the mills.website. Presently, the structure has a both track and a major highway SS262. On the northeast flank is a tree-lined bicycle and pedestrian lane. A lock allows for boats to traverse from one side to the other. A covered bridge once emerging from the city is also no longer extant.
References
Bridges in Lombardy Buildings and structures in Mantua {{Italy-bridge-struct-stub