Ponte Pietra at blue hour

Ponte Pietra has been rebuilt many times since the first century BC, and you can read the repairs in the stonework: two original Roman arches in pale stone, the rest in warm red brick from the medieval and post-war rebuilds. That mismatch is what makes it photograph better than a tidier bridge would.

There are two frames and they are different jobs. On the bridge itself, the parapets and the brick tower gate at the north end give an enclosed, intimate setting with the hillside and Castel San Pietro rising behind. From the embankment downstream on the right bank, the whole span reads across the frame with its reflection in the water, the cathedral tower on the left and the lit hill above.

Blue hour is when both work: the bridge lighting comes on while the sky still has colour, and the Adige is dark enough to hold reflections. It is a pedestrian bridge and a busy one, but it is long — walk to the far third and there is usually room. The riverside paths below are unlit in places and the current is strong, so stay on the embankment rather than the gravel banks after dark.