Pisa Museo Aperto

Location(s)

The construction of this bridge began in 1261, and was completed twenty years later, in 1282. Up until then, to cross the Arno in that area, called Guatolongo, a bridge of boats was used. Its name “Ponte di Spina” derives from the name of the district on the right bank of the Arno, even thought later the inhabitants of Pisa called it Ponte della Fortezza (Bridge of the Fortress), named after the fortress (also called Cittadella Nuova), which was built by the Florentines opposite the bridge, on the eastern border of the city. In the Late Middle Ages, in that area, next to the bridge, a regulation forbade gentry to build new buildings or to rent existing buildings. For defence reasons the construction of workshops was also forbidden.
 

The expense for maintenance of the bridge was covered by the income from rural property belonging to the Commune, which were situated in Maremma in Tuscany and in Sardinia, areas controlled by the Republic of Pisa. Other income came from the sale of oil and iron. Furthermore, next to the bridge, there was a naval dockyard where wood necessary for maintenance was stored. Here, the house of the Pontinaio, the official who administered the bridge, stood.
Ponte di Spina, as Ponte a Mare, was situated on one of the two ends of the city, and due to this it had to be guarded and defended. Thus the bridge was furnished with slits for archers, turrets and chains which prevented entry to the city from the river.

The Vicissitudes of the Bridge in the Modern and Contemporary Era.

When Pisa was conquered by the Florentines, access to the bridge was forbidden and a defence was built, which included the fortress on the left bank of the river and the bridge itself.

But in 1494, the inhabitants of Pisa were able to reconquer the city and destroy the fortress, which was the main component, and thus the symbol, of Florentine rule. Florence’s answer did not wait for long. The siege of Pisa lasted for fifteen years, during which Ponte di Spina certainly played an important strategic role.

In 1509, at the end of the war, the Florentines captured again the city, hastening the reconstruction of the bridge, because it had been badly damaged during the many battles. At the same time they gave orders to rebuild also the fortress. It seems that in 1511 the building works for the new bridge were already completed, because several documents give reference to the existence of shelters which were built on the bridge for the Florentine troops. Again the bridge was closed to the populace, owing to the fact that it was the main road leading to the fortress. Further it was furnished with turrets defended by cannons which were not directed towards the surrounding countryside, but towards the city itself.

Only in 1781, when military control of the city had not been necessary for many years, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo gave the order to dismantle the bridge and the fortress, which could again be used by the populace, especially for walking along the river. In 1847 the turrets were turned into semi-circular terraces. As happened to all the other bridges in the city, Ponte della Fortezza was also destroyed in 1944, during the Nazi retreat.

It was rebuilt again, fairly late, during the post-war period in 1959, on a design by Riccardo Gizdulich and Letterio Donato. This time the architects looked for solutions that could resolve the problem of the river currents and flooding of the roadway, flooding which in this area was more powerful than elsewhere due to the meanders of the river.