If you have found a vacation rental in Pistoia and are spending time exploring the surrounding area and the beautiful, lush landscape of this part of Tuscany, then there is one special little spot that is perfect for those who want to get a little off the more traditional beaten tourist path for international visitors. While famous among locals and other Tuscans, the Ponte Sospeso di San Marcello Pistoiese is likely unheard of to most foreign tourists. Therefore, you can expect busy crowds on weekends but you’re going to take in something a little more unusual and that you didn’t expect to find.
One of the longest suspension footbridges in the world, the Ponte Sospeso was originally built in 1923 in order to allow workers living in the village of Popiglio to cross to the other side of the Lima River valley where there was a pin and nail factory located in the village of Mammiano Basso. Previously, the journey to get across the valley was hard and long and so it was decided that a bridge crossing over it would be built. It was designed by the factory director, Vincenzo Scotti Douglas, who had trained as an engineer in the United States, and built over two years, opening in January 1923.
Made from metal, the footbridge is 227m long and just 80cm wide but that was enough to allow the workers to cross quickly and avoid a long hike each morning before, and evening after, work. After the factory closed, the bridge eventually just became a tourist attraction, stretching as it does in this pretty part of the Tuscan hills and affording amazing views over the valley. It is no longer the world’s longest footbridge, having lost the title to Kokone Yume bridge in Japan back in 2006 but is a renowned tourist destination and is especially lovely at this time of year, when the trees all around have turned shades of red and gold. For one of the best spots to take in the autumnal shades of Tuscany, this is a must!
Made from metal, the footbridge is 227m long and just 80cm wide but that was enough to allow the workers to cross quickly and avoid a long hike each morning before, and evening after, work. After the factory closed, the bridge eventually just became a tourist attraction, stretching as it does in this pretty part of the Tuscan hills and affording amazing views over the valley. It is no longer the world’s longest footbridge, having lost the title to Kokone Yume bridge in Japan back in 2006 but is a renowned tourist destination and is especially lovely at this time of year, when the trees all around have turned shades of red and gold. For one of the best spots to take in the autumnal shades of Tuscany, this is a must!
Photo credit: Fluctuat / CC BY-SA 3.0
