Devil's Bridge

This guide to the Devil's Bridge in Lucca tells the legend behind its crossing of the Serchio: a master mason racing an impossible deadline around eleven hundred, floodwater undoing his work, and a stranger's offer to finish the last arch overnight in exchange for the soul of whoever crossed first. You'll hear how the mason spent that night sick with guilt, and what he and the parish priest worked out by morning to keep the bargain without breaking it. Look down at the central arch as you cross, far higher and thinner than the three beside it, still puzzling engineers today.