Ponte Thaon di Revel

At the meeting of La Spezia's seafront and harbour, a slender white footbridge spans the water on two tall masts, linking the Morin promenade with the Mirabello marina. Inaugurated in 2013, it evokes the form of a sailing ship.

Why it matters

The bridge's design draws on the port's vocabulary of masts, rigging and hull frames, in a city shaped by shipbuilding since the arsenal was built along the coast. It honours Paolo Thaon di Revel, the admiral and statesman whom King Victor Emmanuel III made Duke of the Sea.

What to notice

The bridge has two masts rising about 35 metres above the water, with steel stays fanning down to the deck like rigging. It spans roughly 160 metres in three sections; an approximately 18-metre central segment can be raised on hydraulic pistons to let masted vessels pass between the marina and gulf. The deck's surface treatment evokes a yacht. The structure overlooks the gulf, naval installations and hills behind the city.

Context and history

The bridge was conceived by the Port Authority of La Spezia — the same institution that manages the harbour — with the architectural and structural design developed by EXA Engineering together with the authority's own projects office, and it opened in 2013. The steel construction press records the industrial effort behind the lightness: some 530 tonnes of steelwork and roughly 2,500 metres of stay cables, detailed so that the path forks away from the masts instead of colliding with them. Planners conceived it as a continuation of the pedestrian axis from Via del Prione through the city centre toward the sea. The choice of name connected the new structure to the city's maritime heritage: Paolo Thaon di Revel stands among the leading figures of the Italian navy's history, and attaching his title — Duke of the Sea — to a footbridge shaped like a sailing vessel made the reference unmistakable.