Our ride to the Villa
There were shutters and laundry everywhere. Tree lined streets. Tunnels. Bob and Don knew we were on the right path when we passed the jet plane. The walled city of Lucca passed and Sueann said we would be back later in the week. We stopped at Maddalena's Bridge, better known as The Devil's Bridge. The Maddalena's bridge or Devil's Bridge (ponte del diavolo) connect the two banks of the river Serchio at the height of Borgo a Mozzano. Its construction goes back to the era of the Countess Matilde di Canossa (1046-1115), that had large influence and power on this zone of Tuscany, the 'Garfagnana', but its current aspect is due to the reconstruction carried on by Castruccio Castracani (1281-1328), Sir of the near town of Lucca , in the first years of the 14th century. The aspect of this medieval bridge is the classic, for its high frequence in Tuscany, called at 'donkey back', here, and this becomes a unique characteristic, with asymmetric arches. The bridge