Ponte della Maddalena, Naples

About

The Ponte della Maddalena was a bridge on the south east of Naples, Italy, spanning over what was once the River Sebeto, and now reflected by the path of the Via Marinella. For centuries it was one of the entry points into Naples from the South, but was obliterated during the late 19th-century urban renewal of the city.

Prior to Norman times, the bridge was known as pons padulis. Then it was named Guizzardo bridge, for a bridge built by Robert Guiscard, Duke of Puglia, when he lay siege to the city in 1078. It stood near the shoreline to the east of the city where the Via Marinella crossed the River Sebeto (within the present-day Vittorio Emanuele III docks and Piazza Mercato). The bridge was rebuilt in 1555 under the Viceroy Don Bernardino di Mendoza, to span the marsh ground where the Sebeto river arose during the rainy season. The bridge was rebuilt again in 1747 under Charles III and once again in the second half of the 19th century. No longer in existence, it was an established and popular vantage point for topographical artists. The bridge was an excellent point at which to deny entry to invading forces into the city. The most famous of these was the stand in 1799 of the forces...