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City sightseeing & urban paddling in Vicenza
The medieval water gate you can walk over and paddle under
One of central Vicenza’s oldest river crossings,
Ponte Furo gives you two completely different views of Vicenza. On foot, it is a historic bridge on an easy sightseeing walk through the city centre, with the Retrone below, old riverfront buildings and the medieval water entrance beside you. On selected dates, La Porta d’Acqua takes you underneath the same bridge by packraft, continuing through Vicenza’s old river route past traces of the Roman port and other historic bridges.
Claudio Gioseffi, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
About
Not simply a bridge to glance at.
Vicenza’s rivers were once practical infrastructure. Goods, boats and travellers moved along the Retrone and Bacchiglione, connecting the city with the surrounding territory and, through the wider river network, with the Adriatic. At Ponte Furo, “Furo Bridge”, the Retrone slips into the city below street level, past old walls, riverside buildings and traces of the port life that once connected Vicenza to Padua, Venice and the Adriatic. Maybe the best part is that It can actually be experienced from the water through La Porta d’Acqua, “The Water Gate”, a bookable guided packraft descent that follows this historic entrance into the city and continues past the remains of the old port, former boat shelters, Ponte San Michele, “San Michele Bridge”, and Ponte delle Barche, “Bridge of the Boats”.
→ Walk the bridge first
It is a compact stop, easy to include in a walk through the historic centre, but much more interesting once you know what happens underneath. Ponte Furo can be reached freely from Contrà Ponte Furo, “Furo Bridge Street”, beside Viale Eretenio. This gives you the bridge and its urban setting, and works well if you are already exploring the southern edge of the historic centre.
→ THE WATER EXPERIENCE: Urban Paddle
La Porta d’Acqua follows the Retrone into central Vicenza by packraft. The organised descent starts from Parco Retrone, reaches the historic city from the south and passes directly beneath Ponte Furo. From there, the route continues past remains linked to the old Roman port, arches once associated with boat shelters, Ponte San Michele and Ponte delle Barche. What looks like a minor urban river from the pavement becomes a continuous historic route once you are actually on the water. From the packraft, the underside of the bridges, old stonework at the waterline, arches, moorings and the backs of riverside buildings sit directly in front of you. Details that are easy to miss from the street become part of the route. It is also an unusually quiet way to move through the city. No traffic lane, no pavement, no conventional sightseeing circuit, just the river carrying you through a part of Vicenza that most visitors never see from this angle.
→ How to join the next paddle
La Porta d’Acqua is offered on selected dates. For the next edition, contact Teatro Astra / La Piccionaia and ask for the new calendar, price, meeting point, minimum age, language and booking procedure. Past editions have been offered in Italian, English and German, but confirm the language for the specific date you want to book.
Telephone: +39 0444 323725 / Email: info@teatroastra.it
→ No paddle date? Keep Ponte Furo in the itinerary
If your stay does not coincide with an organised descent, keep Ponte Furo on the walking route anyway. Cross the bridge, look down into the Retrone, then continue towards Ponte San Michele and Ponte delle Barche. The three bridges make a compact introduction to Vicenza’s less obvious river geography, while the packraft experience gives you the option of returning to the same story from below.