The Ponte Fabricio connects the Via di Ponte Quattro Capi on the Isola Tiberina (rione Ripa) to the Lungotevere de’ Cenci in the rione Sant’Angelo and is the oldest Roman bridge still in existence.
Ponte Fabricio Rome
History and description
The Ponte Fabricio was built in the year 62 BC by Lucius Fabricius, the “caretaker of roads”, as can be read on inscription in red letters on both sides of the bridge’s travertino marble arches. Fabricio’s bridge was made from blocks of tufa, a typical Roman kind of clay, and replaced the original wooden version that had existed since 192 BC.
The Ponte Fabricio has also been known as the Ponte dei Quattro Capi (because of the two marble pillars with the two-faced God Janus) or the Pons Judaeorum (from the time when the Jewish community in Rome was forced to move into what is now known as the Ghetto).
The Pons Fabricius is almost 60m long and almost 6m wide. It consists of two big arches. Two smaller arches close to each bank are now underground and cannot be seen anymore.