It was 105 meters long and 20 meters wide and was made of travertine. It was set on pillars supporting four semi-circular arcades. In order to facilitate the flow of water it was additionally supplied with supports with pointed blocks (downstream) and semi-circular blocks – blocking the waves (upstream). The central, round opening (occhialone), visible in the construction is not just a decoration but an additional outlet for the flow of water in critical situations, when the level of the water on the Tiber was drastically high. This opening decreased the pressure of water onto the wall. The bridge, once it was ready, constituted an important element of the then road communications network. The connection of the city with the Trastevere also resulted in restoring this rather neglected part of Rome, which was inhabited by the poorest citizens. Soon this location would become attractive for the rich as well. Wonderful residences of aristocrats would be erected there, including Villa Farnesina. However, that was not all – at the exit from the bridge, thanks to the pope, a hospital and a hospice were built, which the following pope, Paul V, enriched with an imposing fountain (Fontana di Ponte Sisto). When at the end of the XIX century, due to regulation of the Tiber riverbed, this building, destined in large part for old priests (known as the Hospital of Hundered Brothers) was torn down, the fountain was kept, moving it to a square next to the bridge (Piazza Trilussa). Today, it does not, as it did in the past, spout enormous amounts of water, but it is a pleasant place to relax and a great example of papal patronage. Standing on the opposite bank of the river, we will see a view stretching like theatrical decorations, of the aforementioned fountain which is accompanied on Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo) in the background, by the monumental Fontana di Aqua Paola, created thanks to Paul V.

However, let us return to the bridge. Its construction was started two years prior to the planned Jubilee Year, where the ruins of an ancient bridge were located, dating to the III century (known as Pons Aurelius, but also Pons Agrippae or Pons Antoninus), which was destroyed during a flood at the end of the VIII century. Pope Sixtus IV, whom we most often associate with the decision to build the Sistine Chapel and its decoration, did not go down in the history of the papacy as a great figure, mainly due to his overblown nepotism. However, he does deserve praise thanks to his patronage. He also desired, for Rome to be not only filled with works of art, but also to be clean and orderly. That is why he ordered new roads to be set out in the city, had them paved and at the same time he did not overlook the needs of pilgrims, which is testified to by the reconstruction of the San Spirito hospital. And what of the bridge? Money for its construction did not come from the papal treasury, but from a fund, left by an important Castilian cardinal, Juan de Torquemada. He was known for his acts of charity, but also for artistic patronage, which is testified to by Antoniazzo Romano’s   Annunciation, an exceptional painting located in the basilica of Dominicans (Santa Maria sopra Minerva), from within whose ranks the cardinal came. However, it is not he, who is honored by the two commemorative slabs placed on the bridge, whose text was composed by the famous papal librarian Bartolomeo Platina. Let us recall their words, as it is interesting and enlightening, while also being useful in the spiritual sense. They inform us that, the expensive and carefully made bridge was rebuilt for the Roman populace and pilgrims who came here in the Jubilee Year by Pope Sixtus IV, whose wish it was that it would bear his name. While anyone, who crosses this bridge should pray to aid him in his long reign. “Farewell to you, whoever you are, as long as you prayed for me” – that is how Platina ends his inscription.