Bereguardo

The pontoon bridge over the Ticino was a temporary work, and it has held since 1449. The Sforza had it built as a permanent crossing on barges that rises and falls with the level of the river; before the unification of Italy the border between Piedmont and the Austrian Empire ran at its two ends, guarded by soldiers and customs men. It has been rebuilt several times — the last substantial time in 1913, when concrete barges were put in that have to be replaced every so often — it has come through two world wars and still links Bereguardo with the Zerbolò bank.

The castle, on the other hand, was never really a fortress: begun by Luchino Visconti and enlarged by Bernabò, it looked more like a pleasure villa, and the dukes of Milan came here to hunt; from that panoramic position over the Ticino valley the village's name too is said to come, bel riguardo, fine view. In 1447 Francesco Sforza besieged it and had it handed over in short order. In 1897 the Milanese engineer Giulio Pisa gave it to the municipality, which put its offices inside. Two thousand seven hundred and seventy-five inhabitants in the province of Pavia.