The 'Ponte dei Salti' stone bridge soars over the turquoise Verzasca with two arches. 400 years after its completion, is draws visitors in droves on a daily basis. Some photograph the picture-perfect subject from all sides, others use the bridge as a springboard for diving into the refreshing water.
Anyone driving on the narrow road which meanders along the green Verzasca valley cannot miss the stone bridge at Lavertezzo: with its two arches and the elegant curvature, the 'Ponte dei Salti' makes an exciting contrast to the otherwise rather wild nature of the valley and offers the multitudes of visitors from around the world a picture-perfect subject for their holiday photo album.
While some start on the various hiking routes from here, others enjoy the picturesque bathing site. They leap from the medieval double arch bridge into the turquoise waters of the Verzasca and then lie on a stone in the sun. Anyone who wants to embellish their bathing trip with a little more history can find another architectural gem in Lavertezzo: the 'Beata Vergine degli Angeli' church.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.