Ponte Santa Trinita

The original bridge was built in1252, and it was named after the nearby church. Like all of Florence's historical bridges, it was rebuilt several times following the numerous floods of the Arno; after the terrible one of 1557, Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned its reconstruction to Bartolomeo Ammannati, who was perhaps inspired by an idea of Michelangelo Buonarroti.  Made of pietra forte and decorated with commemorative epigraphs, it was considered the most elegant bridge in Florence, worthy of the grand ducal processions that used to pass over it. The statues at both ends are by Giovanni Caccini (Autumn and Summer), Taddeo Landini (Winter) and Pietro Francavilla (Spring). Destroyed by the Germans during the Second World War, it was rebuilt exactly "as it was and where it was" in 1958.