As was inevitable, the legend is intertwined with historical reality. It is said that Pietro Barliario had made a pact with the devil and for this reason he begun to concentrate enormous power in his hands. The construction of the aqueduct itself was therefore the result of a spell, by means of which dozens of evil spirits, under the control of the magician, built the imposing water network in a single night.
But the legend has a sad epilogue. The enormous power exercised by Barliario must have aroused the envy of the devil himself who cruelly took revenge on his grandchildren. He lured them into the magician's secret laboratory where the two children began playing with tools and vials unaware of the danger. Upon his return, Barliario found the little ones lifeless.
Regretting the excesses to which he had indulged, he came to hate the magical art that had stolen and that was most dear to him. He threw himself at the foot of the Crucifix in the nearby church of San Benedetto and there the miracle occurred: the Crucifix opened his eyes and accepted the repentance of Barliario, who retired to monastic life until the end of his days.
The echoes of the legend reverberate up to the present day, some Salerno citizens in fact, mindful of the strange story, avoid passing under the arches of the bridge in the middle of the night, fearing to glimpse the shadow of some evil spirit
