Ponte Pietra

Ponte Pietra carries pedestrians across the Adige between the old city and the Roman theatre area. A bridge stood here in Roman times, but the five unequal arches visible today contain material and rebuilding from several periods rather than surviving unchanged from antiquity.

Retreating German forces destroyed most of the bridge in April 1945. Its postwar reconstruction reused stones and bricks recovered from the river where possible, restoring a crossing that remains part of everyday city life.

Ponte Pietra is a working pedestrian and cycle crossing as well as a viewpoint. At busy times, pausing close to the sides rather than in the centre allows residents and other visitors to pass without turning the narrow bridge into a bottleneck.

Ponte Pietra is a free pedestrian crossing with no separate visiting hours. Its paved surface and approaches may be uneven, and the narrow route becomes congested at popular photography times.