The architecture of the Real Ferdinando Bridge masterfully blends forms and materials with elegance and harmony. The classical monumentality of the columns, decorated capitals and “guardian” sphinxes placed on square blocks, is counterbalanced by the extreme lightness of the metal texture of the catenaries and the wooden deck, as well as by the overall airiness of the work as a whole provided by the structural solution with separate columns.

All the construction materials and elements come from the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (namely: the stone from the nearby Coreno Ausonio quarries, the metal components from the ironworks of Razzona di Cardinale and Mongiana in Calabria), with the sole exception of the 12 iron plates housed in the capitals, which were cast in Lyon, France.

The bridge’s decorative shapes reflect the “Egyptizing” taste of the time, a widespread trend throughout Europe following the Napoleonic campaigns and the discoveries of the first archaeological excavations in Egypt.

The unprecedented synthesis of ancient and new configurations and materials, combined with the masterful engineering solution, make the Real Ferdinando Bridge a unique work of enormous artistic and technical value.