Fonnaia bridge

Immersed in the lush green vegetation, powerful and evocative, is the Fonnaia Bridge, dating from the first century AD, the symbol of the ancient Flaminian Way. Built to allow the Flaminian Way to cross the Naja torrent, it was made of perfectly squared blocks of travertine and now appears as it did after the restoration work carried out in the Augustan period (27 AD). It is 15 mt long, 8 mt high, with a single round arch of 3.5 mt, and has an oblique intrados to allow the road above to maintain its geometric axis. On the inner surface of the arch, the blocks are arranged in regular rows, alternately at the head and at the cut, in order to ensure the best seal. The short sides of the individual blocks are marked with letters and numbers indicating the quarry markings. Recent archaeometric analyses (Vantaggi M., 2007) of Roman monuments in the area have shown that Roman engineers preferred travertine from the neighbouring area of S. Terenziano.