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Ponte a Mare
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Even though the year of building is not known, Ponte a Mare may well have existed many years before 1333, the year in which the Council of the Commune ordered its restoration. This bridge was commonly known as Ponte Novo della Degazia (New Bridge of the Customs) or as Ponte della Degazia del Mare, because it stood near the customs offices of the city. Another name for this bridge was Ponte di Ponte, due to its proximity to the quarter with the same name.
The bridge had problems of stability because the poplar wood from which it was built was structurally weak. Due to this, it was demolished and rebuilt in stone in 1355. While Ponte di Spina was situated at the east end of the city, the Ponte a Mare was situated at the west end (precisely in the direction of the mouth of the Arno and the sea), and it was furnished with underwater chains which blocked the passage of boats and ships which could have gone upstream and assaulted the city. At the end of the 1300s, when the communal arsenal was over time turned into a complex of fortifications called Cittadella (later called Cittadella Vecchia in order to distinguish it from the fortress which was built by the Florentines next to Ponte di Spina), the bridge achieved a defensive function, up until the time it became off limits to the populace after the Florentine conquest in 1406.
In 1415, it became necessary to invest heavily in order to restore the bridge which was at that time in bad condition. It seems that the same Filippo Brunelleschi in 1426 directed the reclamation works of the bridge and of the Cittadella (fortress). Several turrets were built on the bridge, which was finally turned into a military structure, as had happened with Ponte della Fortezza (Ponte di Spina).
Apart from the defensive role, Ponte a Mare was essential for the commercial life of Pisa, linking the two banks of the Arno near to the arsenals (on the right bank) and near to the Canal of the Navicelli (on the left bank), both of them essential for linking the city to the sea.
The Vicissitudes of the Bridge in the Modern and Contemporary Period.
In the years of the rebellion of Pisa and of the second Florentine siege, between 1494 and 1509, the bridge was badly damaged by the Florentine troops, to such an extent that it could no longer be used. In 1513 the government of Florence sponsored important restoration works, which nevertheless became very complex, and thus the bridge remained almost totally in disuse for more than a century, until when in 1634 the Grand Duke of Tuscany decided to order its demolition and its complete rebuilding. The powerful currents which were formed in that point of the river more than once put in danger the stability of the bridge. In 1768 the central arch collapsed, and its use was again forbidden to the populace.
Shortly after the Unification of Italy, in 1869, a flood destroyed the five arches of the bridge, which had to be rapidly reopened. The city, in fact, had at that time only two bridges, the one of the Fortress and the Ponte di Mezzo. A temporary wooden trestle bridge was put on the pillars which had remained intact, but the day before the inauguration it was demolished by a Libeccio tempest (southwest wind).
This was the end of the long life of Ponte a Mare. Later the Commune ordered the building of a new bridge slightly seawards to the place where the old Ponte a Mare had stood. The creation of a new road, which linked the Via Aurelia to the city, soon became extremely urgent. Thus, in 1878 the Ponte di Ferro was inaugurated, it was 5.5 metres wide of which 0.75 metres on each side were destined to pedestrians. In reality it was more a trestle bridge which could also be used by carriages. It was later destroyed with all the other bridges, in 1944 during the retreat of the German troops. In 1958 in its place the New Ponte a Mare was built, which still exists today.