Friars' Bridge

The Ponte ai Frati bridge [Bridge of the Friars] over the Ozzeri canal has been the link between Lucca and the hamlet of Guamo since the Middle Ages. It owes its name to having been historically crossed by monks who resided in monasteries to the south of the city. In the 1930s, the old bridge was replaced by a brick and iron structure two hundred metres further upstream. 

On the evening of 3 September 1944 in anticipation of the Allied attack on Lucca, the representative of the local Liberation Committee, in agreement with the commander of the Resistance military forces, ordered the mobilisation of the partisans, who began to round up the few remaining Germans in the city centre. 

There was a tangible risk that the Allies, fearing an all-out resistance by the Germans in the capital, would order the bombing of Lucca. It was therefore necessary to warn them that the Germans had retreated in order to avoid further mourning and ruin. CIN Commissioner Vannuccio Vanni and Captain Mario Bonacchi decided to send a patrol towards Pontetetto to avert the possibility of a bombardment of the town. 

It was made up of four young men in their early twenties: Guglielmo Bini, Alberto Mencacci, Giuseppe Lenzi and Alfonso Pardini. Through the Tempietto, along the canal that reaches the Ozzeri, they arrived at the footbridge of Ponte dei Frati which was guarded by a squad of five Germans. Having eliminated that last guard post, they gained the allied positions and at 10pm delivered the message of the CLN to Colonel J.R. Sherman, who had already set up a battery of twenty 120 mm cannons in the Guamo area.

Thus the text of the message in English. "To the Allied Troops Command. Having learnt of the approach of the allied troops to Lucca, it was decided that the patriots would proceed to occupy the town during the night of 3 to 4 September. Any shelling is therefore unnecessary. Instructions are awaited through the patrol, bearer of this letter. Signed Alfredo."

The marble memorial stone placed in Via Santeschi reads: "To the four partisans, with eternal gratitude."

The bridge was abandoned during the 1970s and is now unusable. Local citizens set up an association, La Guscianella, to restore and enhance the place.