Ponte della Maddalena (Devil's Bridge), Tuscany

The lopsided main arch of the Ponte della Maddalena leaping over the Serchio River near Borgo a Mozzano, north of Lucca. Its exact date is unknown: tradition links it to Matilda of Canossa around 1100, and it was reworked around 1300 under Castruccio Castracani. The hump is so steep that the bridge looks impossible, which is how it earned the name Devil's Bridge and a legend of a bargain with Satan. In fact the tall, asymmetric arch is good practical engineering, lifting the roadway clear of the Serchio's floods with as few piers in the current as possible. The end facing the village was altered in 1899 to make room for a railroad line. Pedestrians can still climb over the top.