Ponte della Maddalena, "The Devil's Bridge," Borgo a Mozzano, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

We returned to the Devil's Bridge for a nighttime photo shoot.  This is the view from the west side of the Serchio River. (There is more information about this bridge in a post I published just a few days ago at this link).

This view is from the east side of the river in fading daylight.

The view from atop the 1000-year old bridge on a different day. 

The bridge winds down with a pleasant s-curve over the train tracks on the west side of the river.

The lights on the north side of the bridge were illuminated first. The wind died and the water turned flat as glass - a perfect evening.

And after the lights were turned on for the south side of the bridge, a gazillion little bugs swarmed around the light - I captured them here with a slow shutter speed. We had a great dinner (pizza/wine) at the restaurant right by the bridge - great food, great value.

Ponte della Maddalena, "The Devil's Bridge," Borgo a Mozzano, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

Near the village of Borgo a Mozzano stands the 1000-year old Ponte della Maddalena, or, in English, the Bridge of Mary Magdalene. It is also known as "the Devil's Bridge." The story being that the builders made a pact with the devil to help build the bridge. In return, the devil would receive the soul of the first to cross the bridge. The locals outwitted the devil by luring a pig across first. I am standing at the peak of the high arch span.  The distant mountains beyond the Serchio River are still snow-capped even with the warm weather this week.

Here's the bridge at dusk on a different day.

These bright yellow crops of canola/rapeseed adorn many fields in northern Tuscany right now and these were on the trip from Lucca north through the Serchio River valley to the bridge.

Look ma, no hands! But you'd better pay no attention to the red 18-wheeler bearing down at high speed from behind.  Bicyclists sharing these narrow roads with fast Italian automobile drivers appear to be both brave and fearless - and it is a rare road, rural or otherwise, where I have not encountered a bicyclist.