Ponte alle Grazie is a bridge over the Arno River in Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

The original Ponte alle Grazie was constructed in 1227. It was rebuilt in 1345 with nine arches, making it the oldest and longest bridge in Florence. Two of the arches were filled in during 1347 in order to widen piazza dei Mozzi. Structures were built on the bridge, much as can be seen on the modern Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval stone closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers...

 but these were eventually abandoned and were removed in 1876 to make way for railway track.

In August 1944, the bridge was destroyed by the Nazi army

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 as they withdrew before the advancing Allied forces

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Following the end of the War, a competition was held to create a new design for a replacement bridge. The winning design, the work of a group formed of architects including Giovanni Michelucci

Giovanni Michelucci

Giovanni Michelucci was an Italian architect, urban planner and engraver. He was one of the major Italian architects of the 20th century, known for notable projects such as the Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station and the San Giovanni Battista church on the Autostrada del Sole....

, Edoardo Said, Riccardo Gizdolich and Danilo Know and an engineer, Piero Melucci, feature four slender pier

Pier (architecture)

In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...

s with thin arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

es between them. The new bridge was completed in 1953.

While the new design is harmonious with the surrounding city, its modern design and construction materials do not reflect its predecessor.