Ponte a Cappiano is a delightful village in the heart of Tuscany, around 40 km from Pisa, Pistoia and Florence and around 30 km from Lucca.
For some historians, the origins of Ponte a Cappiano date back to even the late Roman era.
Here, at the time located on the vital communications link between France and Rome, the “Via Francigena”, there was a bridge that crossed the River Usciana, a river feeding the great marsh known today as the “Padule di Fucecchio”.
In Mediaeval times, apart from being an important road intersection, offered employment opportunities in countless mills and fisheries. In this period, Cappiano was governed by the “Ospitalieri” or the Cavalieri del Tau di Altopascio (a religious order of knights). In 1325 the Bridge was destroyed during a war between Lucca and Florence, and was later rebuilt and fortified as a Tower.
The bridge also appears in a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (the Windsor collection).
In the 16th century, Cappiano was under the domain of the Medici family, and it was Cosimo I de' Medici who in the first half of the 16th century ordered the reconstruction of the bridge as we know it today.
The complex is redolent of the much more famous and renowned “Ponte Vecchio” in Florence. It has both covered and open sections together with a series of annexed buildings, currently used partly as residential homes and partly as a hostel.
