The Ponte Coperto was, until the nineteenth century, the only brick bridge over the Ticino from Lake Maggiore to its confluence with the Po.

[5] In Roman times, in the ancient town of Ticinum, there already was a bridge which connected the two shores of the river Ticino in the same location as the contemporary Ponte Coperto.

[6] According to the legend, in 999, on Christmas Eve, a few pilgrims wanted to attend the midnight mass in town but, because of the thick fog, their boats could not cross the river.

The Roman bridge continued to function even at the beginning of the Middle Ages and was restored in 860 by Emperor Louis the German, who ordered the vassals dependent on the Abbey of Bobbio to come to Pavia to participate in the works.

Subsequently, new elements were added: a portal of entry on Borgo Ticino's side (1599), a chapel in the centre of the bridge in honour of Saint John of Nepomuk (1746),[11] and lastly a portal of entry, built by Carlo Armati (1822),[12] on the side of the historic centre.

In the registry office in Mezzabarba Palace, seat of the municipality of Pavia, a wooden model of the 14th-century bridge, built in 1938, is displayed.

Due to the fear that any collapse of the bridge could have caused a flood, in February 1948 the Ministry of Public Works ordered the demolition of the ancient artifact.

An epigraph was placed on the portal of entry on the city's side with the words: Sull'antico varco del ceruleo Ticino, ad immagine del vetusto Ponte Coperto, demolito dalla furia della guerra, la Repubblica Italiana riedificò ('On the ancient passage of the cerulean river Ticino, in the likeness of the old Ponte Coperto, demolished by the war, the Italian Republic rebuilt').