Ponte di Veja Historical Timeline

Origins

The arch is a product of karst: rainwater, mildly acidic, dissolved the limestone along fractures and enlarged them into a cave system over a very long period.

Turning points

Most of the cave's roof eventually collapsed. The section that held is the bridge -- so the arch is not something built up but something left behind.

Influential people

The shelters beneath and beside it were used by people in the Palaeolithic, and excavation has produced stone tools and faunal material. This is part of the same prehistoric landscape as the Grotta di Fumane below.

Cultural evolution

The arch has been a local landmark for centuries and appears in early descriptions and prints of the Veronese mountains. A long-standing local tradition holds that Dante saw it and drew on it for the bridges over the Malebolge in the Inferno; there is no evidence for this, and it is best treated as a story the region tells about itself rather than as fact.

Present-day significance

It now sits within the Lessinia regional park and is one of the most visited natural sites in the Veronese mountains.