Overview
It joins the two banks of the Tiber and allows thousands of Romans and tourists to move between some of the most beautiful areas of the capital. Ponte Sisto is an exclusively pedestrian bridge, perfect for those who are discovering the Eternal City on foot and want to capture the surrounding landscape with souvenir photos to always keep in the drawer. From here, you can see in the distance the “Cupolone” of San Pietro.
At the center of the four arches, on the central pylon, opens the so-called “goggle”, a large hole used in the past to control the level of the Tiber.
However, Ponte Sisto also hides a dark and mysterious side. According to legend, every year, on January 7, the bridge is crossed by a ghost carriage that carries the ghost of Donna Olimpia Pamphilj, of the "Pimpaccia". On her, sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X, in the seventeenth century there were rumors of all kinds, not least the one that described her as a lover of the pontiff. On January 7, her ghost is thrown from Sixtus Bridge into the Tiber, where devils await her to ferry her to Hell.
