Ponte Acquedotto

Gravina in Puglia is a small town located on the edge of a ravine above a small river. Inhabited since the Paleolithic, it was later a Greek and then Roman city.

While the city is entirely on one side of the ravine, some religious sites were built on the other one, making the construction of a bridge necessary. It is not clear when the bridge was built exactly but it is mentioned for the first time in the mid-17th century. After an earthquake hit the area in 1686 the bridge became unstable and later collapsed due to a second tremor in 1722.

The bridge was then built again in the following years, and transformed into an aqueduct in order to bring to Gravina water from the rich sources on the other side of the ravine. For this reason, it is now known as Ponte Acquedotto (Aqueduct Bridge), but it is sometimes also called Ponte Viadotto (Viaduct Bridge). Some of the aqueduct structures were destroyed during a flood in 1855, but others can be seen to this day on the sides of the bridge. The whole structure was restored in 1860.

Ponte Acquedotto is over 37 meters (121 feet) tall and 90 meters (295 feet) long, and it is the only connection between the city center of Gravina and the rock-cut churches on the eastern side of the canyon. Crossing the bridge offers a wonderful view of the ravine and the town of Gravina in Puglia.

The bridge became famous as a great scene was shot there for the 2021 James Bond movie No Time To Die.