Editing Ponte Vecchio (section)

==History and construction==
The bridge spans the Arno at its narrowest point<ref name="tci">Touring Club Italiano, ''Firenze e dintorni'' 1964:321</ref> where it is believed that a bridge was first built in [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] times,<ref name=arch>{{cite book | first=Guido | last=Zucconi | year= 1995| title=Florence: An Architectural Guide | publisher=Arsenale Editrice srl | location=San Giovanni Lupatoto, Vr, Italy | isbn=88-7743-147-4}}</ref> when the [[via Cassia]] crossed the river at this point.<ref name="tci"/> The Roman piers were of stone, the superstructure of wood.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} The bridge first appears in a document of 996<ref name="tci"/> and was destroyed by a [[flood]] in 1117<ref name="dupre"/> and reconstructed in stone. In 1218 the Ponte alla Carraia, a wooden structure, was established nearby which led to it being referred to as "Ponte Nuovo" relative to the older (Vecchio) structure.<ref name="dupre"/> It was swept away again in 1333<ref name=arch/> except for two of its central piers, as noted by [[Giovanni Villani]] in his ''[[Nuova Cronica]]''.<ref>Bartlett, Kenneth R. (1992). ''The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance''. Toronto: D.C. Heath and Company. {{ISBN|0-669-20900-7}} (Paperback). Page 40.</ref> It was rebuilt in 1345.<ref>{{cite book | first=Michele G | last=Melaragno | year=1998 | title=Preliminary Design of Bridges for Architects and Engineers | publisher=Marcel Dekker | isbn=0-8247-0184-4 | pages=3}}</ref>

This location marks one of the earliest crossings of the Arno in Florence, possibly originating from Roman times or even before. Although floods have repeatedly damaged it, the current bridge has stood since approximately 1339-1345. For many years, the only older bridge in the city was the Rubaconte bridge, built nearly a century earlier. But after significant 19th-century modifications and its destruction in 1944, the Ponte Vecchio claimed its title as the oldest bridge in Florence.

[[Giorgio Vasari]] recorded the traditional view of his day that attributed its design to [[Taddeo Gaddi]]<ref name="pv" />— besides Giotto one of the few artistic names of the [[trecento]] still recalled two hundred years later. Modern historians present Neri di Fioravanti as a possible candidate as the builder.<ref name="tci" />

Sheltered in a little loggia at the central opening of the bridge is a weathered dedication stone, which once read ''Nel trentatrè dopo il mille-trecento, il ponte cadde, per diluvio dell' acque: poi dieci anni, come al Comun piacque, rifatto fu con questo adornamento''.<ref>Translated it would read, "In the thirty-third year following thirteen hundred, the bridge fell, from a watery flood: ten years later, at the pleasure of the Commune, it was rebuilt, with this adornment". (Touring Club Italiano, ''Firenze e dintorni'' 1964:321)</ref> The [[Torre dei Mannelli]] was built at the southeast corner of the bridge to defend it.

The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}}, and the two side arches each span {{convert|27|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}}. The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 metres (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio is 5:1.<ref name="structurae">{{Structurae|id=20000472|title=Ponte Vecchio}}. Retrieved on 2007-02-16</ref> The shallow segmental arches, which require fewer piers than the [[semicircular]] arch traditionally used by Romans, enabled ease of access and navigation for animal-drawn carts.<ref name="dupre" /> Another notable design element is the large [[piazza]] at the center of the bridge that [[Leon Battista Alberti]] described as a prominent ornament in the city.<ref name="dupre" />

A stone with an inscription from [[Dante]] (''[[Paradiso (Dante)|Paradiso]]'' xvi. 140-7) records the spot at the entrance to the bridge where [[Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti]] was murdered by the [[Amidei]] clan in 1215, which began the urban fighting of the [[Guelfs and Ghibellines]].

The bridge has always hosted shops and merchants <!--a source should be easily found, or this is no legend:(legend says this was originally due to a tax exemption),--> who displayed their goods on tables before their premises, after authorization by the [[Bargello]] (a sort of a lord mayor, a magistrate and a police authority).