On Saturday 10 March 2018, the celebratory events of the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of the San Francesco Di Paola Bridge, better known as Swing bridge.
The bridge was in fact inaugurated by the President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi on 10 March 1958, and was named after San Francesco di Paola, protector of the sea people. It is the second swing bridge, after the initial one in 1887, designed by the National Society of Officine Savignano, which also built the electromechanical parts while the part relating to the metal structures was built by the Tosi Shipyard in Taranto.
To open the celebratory events, the souvenir photo taken on the bridge, of the Navy technicians, employees on duty, maintenance and maneuvering of the Bridge, with the military, civil and religious authorities who attended the event. Following the Fanfare of the Southern Maritime Command sang the national anthem starting the cannon salvos that fired from the Aragonese Castle, flagged for the occasion, signaled to Nave Doria, navigating in the Mar Grande, which could be en route, on the alignment, to cross the Navigable Canal, followed by the rowing boats of the Taranto rowing associations.
Punctual to the 10.30 opened the Swing bridge, and the naval unit, a class destroyer Horizon, the flagship of the Italian fleet, majestically advanced through the canal, amid the applause and admiration of the people crowded along Corso Due Mari and along the Descent Vase that delimit the navigable canal. The show was repeated a little later, with Nave Doria that this time it crossed the Navigable Channel, the ceremony ended with the suggestive raising oars of the boats that followed Nave Doria.
The Southern Maritime Commander, Division Admiral Salvatore Vitiello, on behalf of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Team Admiral Valter Girardelli, in his introductory speech thanked the intervening authorities and all the citizens who responded with great participation and warmth to these celebrations "It was for so many years that I did not see Corso Due Mari so crowded, this makes me proud and honors a monument symbol of the city that I consider together with the Aragonese Castle as the visiting card of the Marina and the city of Taranto in Italy and in the world".
The event has been documented by thousands of photos and videos published not only by the media but also by the many spectators who have experienced the event, and among the many comments, the most frequent was thanks to the Navy for having rediscovered the beauties of Taranto.
