Ponte Azzone Visconti

“And the bridge, which connects the two banks there, seems to […] mark the point where the lake ends and the Adda begins again, until it takes on the name of lake once more where the banks, moving away, let the water stretch out and slow in new gulfs and new inlets. ”
A. Manzoni, I promessi sposi (The Betrothed)

The Ponte Azzone Visconti was originally called “Ponte Grande” but is now referred to by locals as “Ponte Vecchio” following the construction of the J.F. Kennedy bridge in 1995. It is one of the monuments that symbolise the city of Lecco. 

It was ordered by Azzone Visconti and built between 1336 and 1388 to connect Lecco and Milan. It was a fortified bridge guarded by a garrison. It was not as it appears today: it had towers and drawbridges which were demolished in 1799, a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk that is now in the main square of the Castello district and, at the centre, a small chapel with the Madonna that is now preserved in the Civic Museum. 

During the wars, it sustained a lot of damage and was then restored in 1609 by the Count of Fuentes, the governor of Milan. Over the years, it was restored several more times and modified to accommodate the city’s road system. Today, the bridge, with its eleven different arches, is 131 metres long and 9.05 metres wide.