The Maddalena's Bridge, or Devil's Bridge, is situated in Borgo a Mozzano, a village in the Garfagnana area, province of Lucca. It connects the two banks of the river Serchio and its first construction dates back to the era of the Countess Matilde di Canossa (1046-1115). It was rebuilt by Castruccio Castracani (1281-1328), Sir of the near town of Lucca, who gave it the current structure, at the beginning of the 14th century.
The aspect of this medieval bridge is called at 'donkey back' which is a unique characteristic, with asymmetric arches. The bridge is known as 'Devil's Bridge' because of a legend: a brick layer began to build the bridge, but soon he realized that he would not be able to finish it in time, so he asked the Devil for help. The Devil accepted, swapping his construction with the builder's soul. The bridge was finished, but the brick layer felt so guilty that he confessed everything to a priest, who suggested him to make a pig cross the bridge for first.
The Devil was defeated and vanished in the Serchio river water.
