Ponte Coperto (also called Ponte Vecchio) is a bridge over the Ticino river in Pavia, which connects the historic city center and the rest of the city, with the picturesque neighborhood, originally outside the city's outskirts, of Borgo Ticino. The bridge is very characteristic, has five arches and is completely covered with two portals at the ends and a small religious chapel in the center. Although the current bridge was built in 1949, it re-proposes the forms of the ancient Ponte Coperto, dating back to the 14th century. Already in Roman times, in the ancient city of Ticinum there was a first bridge that connected the two banks of the river to the modern Ponte Coperto. Of this bridge remains, easily visible in the lean periods, the base of a central pylon, in trachyte of the Euganean hills. The direction of the pylon, slightly offset from that of the medieval and modern bridges, indicates that in Roman times the direction of the river current was different. Another pylon of the Roman bridge could be seen a few years ago at the left bank, but was covered with earth to widen the bank. The construction of the Roman bridge dates back to the era of Augustus. According to a legend, on the night of Christmas 999 many pilgrims wanted to go to midnight mass in the city, but, due to the thick fog, the boats could not make the journey. Suddenly a man dressed in red arrived, who promised to build a bridge immediately in exchange for the soul of the first passerby. The man was the devil and only the archangel Michael, who came from the church not far away, recognized him; he pretended to accept the pact and, when the bridge was built, made a goat pass first. The new bridge was built in 1351 on the ruins of the Roman bridge, designed by Giovanni da Ferrera and Jacopo da Cozzo. The bridge, completed in 1354, was covered and equipped with ten irregular arches and two towers at the ends, which were used for defense; the aspect of this bridge, even if with only six arches, is visible in the frescoes by Bernardino Lanzani (about 1524) inside the church of San Teodoro. During the construction of the Spanish walls, in the seventeenth century, the first arcade and a half towards the city and the first archway on the side of the village were included in the ramparts and then closed. Later they were added an entrance portal from the part of the Borgo Ticino (1599), a chapel in the center of the bridge in honor of San Giovanni Nepomuceno (eighteenth century) and finally also an entrance portal from the historical center, built by the Amati (1822). The bombardments of the allied forces in September 1944, during the Second World War, damaged the old fourteenth-century bridge and caused an arch to collapse. For fear of collapses that could have caused the Ticino to overflow, in February 1948, the Ministry of Public Works had the ancient artifact demolished with dynamite. Some remains of the pylons of the old bridge are visible in the waters of the river; the base of the partially buried portal on the left bank also remained. In 1949 the construction of the new bridge began, which was inaugurated in 1951. On the entrance portal on the side of the city an epigraph cites: "On the ancient passage of the cerulean Ticino, in the image of the ancient Ponte Coperto, demolished by the fury of the war, the Italian Republic rebuilt ". The current bridge was built about 30 meters further downstream than the previous one, and is wider and higher than the old one. The arches are wider, therefore smaller in number: five instead of seven. The bridge is now even shorter as it is positioned exactly perpendicular to the current of the river, while the old one completely followed the line that joins Strada Nuova with Piazzale Ghinaglia. The modifications implemented to the project were aimed at improving the traffic on the bridge and at the same time facilitating the flow of water.