The Crà«sa bridge was built near the “Betula” gate, one of the five entrances to the fortified village. Originally known as the “Ponte di S. Francesco di Sopra”, it was built after 1219, the year of construction of the church of S. Francesco. Like the homonymous bridge “below” (the current Casotto bridge) connected the building beyond the Verde stream; the existence of two homologous bridges in the same area was probably due to the strong dualism that existed between Sommoborgo and Imoborgo. An episode which bears witness to the belonging of the two bridges to their respective factions dates back to around 1461, to the death of Alessandro Lampugnani of Milan, castellan of the fortress of Cacciaguerra: to reconcile the parishioners of San Gemignano and San Colombano, who claimed the right of each parish to take the body to San Francesco, it was established that four men from “Cacciaguerra sopra” and four from “Cacciaguerra infra” would transport the coffin to the church of San Francesco according to the itinerary which required the passage by the “strada di sotto” (ie the “Casotto”) on the outward journey and along the “strada di sopra” (the “Crà«sa”) on the way back.

The ancient structure in wooden decks with planks nailed to masonry piles was replaced after 1391, the year in which the bridges with masonry arches began to be built. The huge floods of 1567 and 1569 destroyed the bridge which was rebuilt on the remains of the previous one. P. Ferrari in his “The Church and Convent of S. Francesco di Pontremoli” recounts the flood damage: “The two bridges over the Verde were seriously damaged and a «Maestadella» that existed there was removed from the upper one, with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, painted on a wall. […] And very serious damage was caused by the flood of 1569 […] devastating and almost burying the aforementioned two bridges over the Verde and the road that leads to the Convent of S. Francesco.”

B. Campi, who died in 1716, in the “Historical Memoirs of the City of Pontremoli” testifies that even then he saw the remains of the ancient structure of the bridge, still visible today. It is therefore assumed that the bridge rebuilt on the ruins of the 1569 flood could coincide with its current appearance. In reference to the first construction of the Crà«sa bridge, Campi states: “The Pontremolesi also built another stone bridge with a door over the Verde river, known in the present as the Ponte di Sopra, part of whose vestiges still appeared the past year; and the two villages Piagnaro and Bietola were joined to Pontremoli. It was possible to find the shutters of the ancient bridge in 1982 after the violent flood which, in addition to devastating the large car park in front of the bridge, also partially undermined the piers, revealing the remains of the old arched structure which was grafted onto a level much lower. This find also confirms Giuliani’s study who, analyzing the portico in the funds of the Palazzo del Comune, argued that Pontremoli developed on a lower level of almost 8m.

«To close the access to the village, on the left bank of the Verde, a large door protected by an unusual lateral guardhouse surmounted by corbels was built in an unspecified period. The gatehouse, whose wall structure is not visible, seems to essentially fulfill, in its current forms, an ornamental requirement. (taken from “Historical-architectural guide to the castles of Tuscan Lunigiana” by Nicola Gallo, 2002)

photos: arch. Elia Santini