San Pellegrino Bridge

The bridge crosses the Crostolo torrent and was built in the second half of the XVIII century.
Reggio Emilia
San Pellegrino Bridge

Address

Via Martiri della Bettola - 42123 Reggio nell'Emilia

How to get there

Reggio nell'Emilia

The Bridge is located in the southern area of the town along SS63 (Main Road 63).

Historical notes

In the eighteenth century, in a period of great public utility works, the area of ​​Porta Castello, south of the city, under the impulse of the construction of the "Great road to Tuscany", in the direction of the Passo del Cerreto, was the scene of rapid succession of the restructuring of the Porta itself, today viale Umberto I, and the construction of the bridge over the Crostolo river at the end of the road.
The works were entrusted in 1778 to Ludovico Bolognini, architect of the public in Reggio. Bolognini's project, completed in 1791, led to the creation of a work with face equipment, masonry parapets and pillars on which two statues representing the Panaro and Secchia rivers were placed in 1802. These two statues, together with the one depicting the Crostolo river (now located at the top of the fountain in Piazza Prampolini) were part of the sumptuous and complex architectural decoration of the park of the ducal palace of Rivalta. The three statues were sold to the Municipality in 1802 by Bernardino Lolli who had purchased the complex. The attribution of the three statues is uncertain: some believe them to be works by Giuseppe Re di Castelvetro who had made numerous other sculptures for the Delizia di Rivalta, others instead of Giovan Battista Bolognini.
The bridge suffered damage during World War II, hit by a bomb dropped by a fighter-bomber. In the post-war period, repairs began which led to the recovery of the building; in particular, the parapet damaged by the explosion of road bombs was redone, changing its morphology.
At the end of the 80s, considered inadequate to dispose of the flow of cars, the bridge was affected by an expansion, with widening of the roadway and construction of two sidewalks, which however left the main wall structure and the architectural lines with it unchanged original.

In the XVIII century, at a time of public utility great works, the area of ​​Porta Castello, south of the town, under the impulse of the construction of the "Great road to Tuscany", in the direction of the Passo del Cerreto, was the scene of rapid succession of the restructuring of the Porta itself, today viale Umberto I, and the construction of the bridge over the Crostolo river at the end of the road. The works were entrusted in 1778 to Ludovico Bolognini, architect of public works in Reggio. Bolognini's project, completed in 1791, led to the creation of a work with face equipment, masonry parapets and pillars on which two statues representing the Panaro and Secchia rivers were placed in 1802. These two statues, together with the one depicting the Crostolo river (now located at the top of the fountain in Piazza Prampolini) were part of the magnificent and complex architectural decoration of the park of the ducal palace of Rivalta. The three statues were sold to the Municipality in 1802 by Bernardino Lolli who had purchased the complex. The attribution of the three statues is uncertain: some believe them to be works by Giuseppe Re di Castelvetro who had made numerous other sculptures for the Delizia di Rivalta, others instead by Giovan Battista Bolognini.The bridge suffered damage during World War II, hit by a bomb dropped by a fighter-bomber. In the post-war period, the repairs began led to the recovery of the building; in particular, the parapet damaged by the explosion of road bombs was remade, changing its morphology. In the late eighties the bridge was considered unsuitable because of the road traffic, so it was expanded with widening of the roadway and construction of two sidewalks, which however left the main wall structure and the original architectural lines unchanged.