The most famous view of Bassano del Grappa is of its principal landmark, the Ponte degli Alpini, also known as the Ponte Vecchio (‘Old Bridge’). This covered wooden bridge over the broad Brenta river was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1569 to replace earlier incarnations. The use of wood helps the structure to cope with the onslaught of flooding as melted snow rushes down from the mountains. The bridge has been rebuilt more than once to the same design, and its current name dates back to the rebuilding after destruction in the Second World War, which was carried out by the Alpini, Italy’s Alpine Troops.
