In 1841, following the extensive damage caused to the bridge of Our Lady by the violent flood of 1839, the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II allocates a large sum of money to deal with the extraordinary works. Therefore, in 1842 a commission met to decree the reconstruction of the bridge in the same place or a new construction further north: both the reconstruction of the damaged bridge and the construction of a new road and therefore a new bridge near the Piazzetta were approved. of St. Colombano.

In 1843 the project of the bridge was drawn up by the adviser Eng. Luigi Campani; due to lack of stone material and higher costs, the arch of the bridge is formed by a brick structure, although Campani preferred it in stone cut into ashlars, statically more suitable. A large wooden framework designed by Campani himself was needed for the construction of the bridge.

In November 1847 the “New bridge” was born, later called “of the Four Saints” due to the statues of S. Geminiano, S. Zita, S. Francesco d’Assisi and S. Francesco Fogolla placed at the top of it.

photos: arch. Elia Santini