Roman Road - Via Flaminia

[Pauline]

On our September trip to Le Marche and Umbria we hope to see some of the remains of Via Flaminia, the ancient Roman road that went from Rome to the Adriatic. It goes through Narni in southern Umbria and then there are two branches - the eastern branch through Spoleto, the western through Carsulae. It rejoins and then goes through northern Umbria, near Gubbio, and into Le Marche, reaching the Adriatic at Fano and then going north along the coast to the end in Rimini.

I am making a list of the sites we will visit on this trip to northern Le Marche and Spoleto and will post them in this thread.

Resources:
Bill Thayer's excellent Umbria Gazetteer
Wikipedia - Via Flaminia

 

[Pauline]

Bill Thayer writes about a piece of Via Flaminia in Lazio, south of Civita Castellana. It is off the SS3 south of Rignano. I found it on Google Maps. This link shows you it on Street View: https://goo.gl/maps/Zo9V4

The modern SS3 north from Rome goes along the old Via Flaminia, but on this section the modern road diverted from the original road, and you can see some of the Roman road.

Why do I like Ancient Roman things so much? Now I am thinking of canceling the night in Tivoli at the start of the trip and seeing a few of these Via Flaminia bits in Lazio instead.

 

[Pauline]

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NOTE January 2016: We visited many of these sites in September 2015. I have written Day Trips for the sites we visited. I wrote a page about Via Flaminia which duplicates these notes below.

Travel Notes - Italy, Via Flaminia - list of sites with links to my Day Trips.
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Here are my notes for Via Flaminia. We will try to visit some of these sites.

Travel Notes – Via Flaminia
August 2015

Via Flaminia, an ancient Roman road, ran from Rome north, through what is now Lazio, Umbria and Le Marche, to the Adriatic coast at Fano and then along the coast to Rimini (Emilia-Romagna).In Umbria the road split after Narni, with an eastern and western branch before rejoining near Foligno. The SS3 follows most of the route of the Via Flaminia.

The road was constructed by Gaius Flaminius (Consul of the Roman Republic) in the 2nd century BC. Augustus (ruled from 27BC to 14AD) restored the road and rebuilt many of the bridges. Vespasian (ruled from 69 – 79AD) constructed the tunnel at Furlo Gorge in 77AD. Trajan (ruled from 98AD to 117AD) repaired several bridges.

Below is the list of sites where you can find remains of the road. The list was taken from Wikipedia with additions from other sources: Marche Voyager / Bill Thayer's Gazeteer / Valle Nuova / Pesaro Urbino Tourism

* Marks the places I hope to visit on our September trip.

Starting in Rome and north into Lazio

· Via Flaminia started at Porta del Popolo (previously called Porta Flaminia), a gate in the Aurelian Walls (Piazza del Popolo), but nothing remains of it there.

· Rome, the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio).

· Prima Porta. From Bill Thayer - “Petra Pertusa, another bit of bad signage: "50 m" for the Roman tunnel; well this was 50 m to the turnoff for it, a gravel road down into the valley - the Flaminia is essentially on a rising ridge all the way from Prima Porta to where I am now - and after I did 300 m, I guessed it'd be 2 km off, looked at my phone, and told myself that if I had an appointment at 1245 this was no way to keep it, and turned back up onto the Flaminia.”

· * Malborghetto – the Casale with the remains of an arch. From Bill Thayer – “The Casale (farmhouse) at Malborghetto is an early mediaeval construction implausibly incorporating remains of a Roman triumphal arch. … so that a bit of Flaminia actually passes inside the museum (another bit still visible about 30 m S of the arch, outdoors).”

· * Rignano Flaminio - Remains of the original road beside SS3, south of Rignano and Civita Castellana (Bill Thayer) Link to Google Map Street View.

· *Civita Castellana - the Via Flaminia passed nearby. We are spending the night here. Wikipedia – Civita Castellana. Are there any remains of the road here?

· Pile di Augusto - east of Civita Castellana, crossing the Tiber into Umbria over a bridge some vestiges can be seen. Not sure where this is. Bill Thayer did not visit.

Umbria

· * Ocriculum - archaeological site of the remains of the ancient city. The amphitheater remains. The mosaics found in the Baths are at the vatican. (Bill Thayer - Amphitheater)

· * Otricoli - modern town near the site of the Roman settlement of Ocriculum. The new city was built using stone from the ancient city. (Bill Thayer – Otricoli)

· Narni, Ponte Sanguinaro S of Narni. Can’t find info on this.

· * Narni, Ponte d’Augusto - Roman arch bridge in Narni, built to carry Via Flaminia over the river Nera. Of the original four spans of the 160 metre long bridge, only the southernmost remains standing. The bridge was built under Augustus around 27 BC using marble blocks. The 30 m high structure was one of the largest bridges constructed by the Romans. Wikipedia

Umbria - along the western branch

· San Gemini - Ponte Caldaro, damaged in World War II, and Ponte Calamone, both before San Gemini. Can’t find info on this.

· * Carsulae - archaeological site with road and arches. We visited Carsulae 15 years ago, but will visit again.

· * Acquasparta, Ponte Fonnaia - Roman bridge about 4 km N of the modern town of Acquasparta in Umbria, carried the W branch of the Via Flaminia across the Naia river, which, today at least, is no more than a tiny seasonal stream. Bill Thayer

· * Acquasparta, Chiesa di San Giovanni de Butris - a bridge just outside Acquasparta, on which the church was built. Bill Thayer can’t find on Google Maps Listed on Comune di Acquasparta - Outside the town on the road Tiberina that faithfully follows the old route of the Via Flaminia , the church of San Giovanni de Butris is a true example of Romanesque art. Built over a Roman bridge with two arches presumably around the thirteenth century , it is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and his time was part of the Order of the Knights of Malta

· * Vicus Martis Tudertium - archaeological site near Massa Martana.

· * Cavallara - Ponte del Diavolo near Bastardo

Umbria - along the eastern branch

· * Spoleto - Ponte Sanguinaro. From Bill Thayer: “All three arches made it thru the ages, only to be very sadly "displayed". The Tessino river no longer flows under the bridge, but twenty meters to the south; one arch has been impossible to excavate, and the other two have wound up buried in a hard-to‑find dark and exiguous concrete pit under the piazza della Vittoria: a very busy and very ugly traffic circle. (The weight of the piazza accounts for the modern brick supporting wall you see across the arch.)”

· * Pontebari - remains of a bridge.

Umbria - after the branches rejoin at S. Giovanni Profiamma

· Pieve Fanonica - bridge-like structure.

· Nocera Umbra - Le Spugne.

· Fossato di Vico - three bridges (one belongs to a branch road off the main trunk of the Flaminia)

· Costacciaro - Ponte Spiano

· Villa Scirca - an imposing bridge, blown up in World War II

Le Marche

· * Pontericcioli - Ponto Grosso

· * Cantiano - Ponte Grosso (same name as in Pontericcioli) across River Burano. Five bridges in the comune of Cantiano, near Pontedazzo and Pontericcioli.

· * Cagli - Ponte Mallio (or Manlio), which appears to be partly of pre-Roman (Umbrian) construction.

· Acqualanga - viaduct near Abbey of San Vincenzo.

· * Furlo Gorge - road and tunnel. There are two tunnels: the original and a larger once beside it built by Vespasian in 76AD. This larger tunnel was used until 2015 when a landslide caused it to be closed to cars (open to pedestrians).

· Calmazzo, near Fossombrone – two tomb stones in a burial ground. Nearby bridge destroyed in WWII.

· * Fossombrone - Via Flaminia passed through center of town. Museo Civico has Roman finds.

· * Fossombrone, Forum Sempronii - archaeological site with remains of forum and street.

· * Serrungarina, near Tavernelle - Another stretch of the original road with the marks of chariot wheels still visible in the stone.

· * Fano - Arch of Augustus (Porta di Augusto), Museo Civico in the Malatesta Palace.

· * Pesaro - Archaeological Museum Oliveriano in Palazzo Almerici.

· * Pesaro, on the northern outskirts - the road crossed the River Foglia at the point where the Ponte Vecchio, with its single great arch, now stands.

 

[Bill Thayer]

You doing the whole road, Pauline?

S. Giovanni de Butris is here, not exactly maybe, but very close:

Your posts are a good reminder for me to get off many Duff and put up some better pages; it's not like I don't have the material, just waiting.

B

 

[Pauline]

We drove along Via Flaminia from the Rome ring road to Narni. Now we are in Le Marche, near Furlo Gorge for the week and will see some parts here. Next week we are in Spoleto and will see some. Thanks for the map. That will help me find it.

Here is me waving to @Bill Thayer from the piece of visible road near Rignano Flaminia. There is another stretch visible in the town.

We found a bit of the old road near Civita Castellana. Alison K. told us where to look.

The archaeological site at Otricoli was very good with remains of several buildings. This photo show the amphitheater.

Here is the magnificent arch north of Narni. It is huge.

 

[Pauline]

Yesterday we went to Fano on the coast and saw the Roman Gate.

Today we walked in the Furlo Gorge and saw the tunnel. We also looked through the fence at the remains of an ancient town near Fossombrone (not much to see).

 

[Pauline]

We saw several bridges in Le Marche. I will post photos later.

We are in Spoleto now and saw two Roman towers on Via Flaminia west of Foligno.

 

[Pauline]

I am starting to gather my notes and photos and post day trips for Via Flaminia.

Via Flaminia - Narni Bridge of Augustus (Ponte d'Augusto)
Via Flaminia - Foligno Tombs

I recently heard from Daniele Bevanati who lives in Foligno and has started a Facebook page to help preserve the two tombs near Foligno. I will start a new thread about it to be sure people see this.

Facebook - Salvaguardia Monumenti Funerari Fiamenga

 

[Pauline]

A few more day trips posted for Via Flaminia in Le Marche. In order from the border with Umbria in the west, heading east towards Fano:

Via Flaminia - Pontericcioli Bridge (Ponte Tre Archi) - this one was hard to find. We had to ask a family who had set up a table outside their house, on the side of the road, where they were chopping the heads off chickens and plucking them!

Via Flaminia - Cantiano Bridge (Ponte Grosso) - this one we found after a Steve had a long chat with an elderly woman in the town. There were two police officers parked by the bridge - looking in the sky for an eagle they had seen.

Via Flaminia - Cagli Bridge (Ponte Mallio) - this one we drove right by without seeing it and Giulia had to tell us where it was, but we still didn't find it on the second visit until we got directions from someone working in a gas station. On the first visit we drove right into Cagli by mistake and - - if we hadn't been driving a very small car (VW Polo) I think we would still be in that village, wedged in a lane. Even with the Polo, it took several tries to get around one corner - which we had to do twice because we got confused and went in circles.

Via Flaminia - Acqualagna Viaduct - this one we drove right by because they sign is really small, but we found it eventually. We really wanted to see the frescoes in the nearby church but it closes at 6pm and we missed it the first time, but took note of the closing time, then missed it the second time by 5 minutes because we were running late.

Via Flaminia - Furlo Gorge Tunnel - this one took two attempts because a landslide has blocked the road and we first tried from the west side of the gorge but it was fenced off.

Pergola Museum of the Gilded Bronzes - this isn't Via Flaminia but it is Roman. @jonathan recommended this museum and we loved it! We were the only people in the room with these statues. Of course the day got away from us, so we arrived during mid-day closing time - then drove on to Mondavio where their museum had shorter closing hours, then drove back to Pergola.

 

[Pauline]

I have finished writing about the wonderful Via Flaminia for Slow Europe. I added Day Trips for each site we visited. I wrote a page listing all the parts of the road that you can see in Italy. Now that I am finished, I want to go back and find the sites we missed.

Travel Notes - Italy, Via Flaminia

 

[Pauline]

A question for @Bill Thayer . I was going to ask on Twitter, but thought I would post here where I can write more.

Thanks for you help Bill, for my original list of places to see on the Via Flaminia, and with some last updates to my notes. There is one part of the road that I am unsure of. Where it goes from Umbria into Le Marche. My notes are too vague on this - I am doing a bit more research now on that part, and making a Google Map of the whole route.

I was on the Wandering Italy website and came to this page - Roman Roads. James Martin says "In the Marche region, a part of the Flaminia system passes through the ancient Roman site of Sentinum near Sassoferrato, where these pictures were taken. " >> I've never heard of Sentinum! Did the Via Flaminia pass through this town? Have you seen these remains?

He quotes you about the ruts in the roads. I wondered about those too. How can they be ruts from wagon wheels? Aren't the rocks too hard?

 

[Bill Thayer]

The Flaminia does go through Sentinum. Sentinum was the site of an important battle in early Roman times; for details, as well as photographs of the place, see Jona Lendering's site.

 

[Bill Thayer]

I was interrupted by my phone, and managed to continue with my post. Jona's site is at http://bit.ly/SentinumLivius

I've been very briefly to Sassoferrato, but not to Sentinum, the predecessor Roman town nearby. I don't set much store by battles, nor even, frankly, by ruins. For example Forum Sempronii left me pretty much as cold as it did you. So Sentinum is low-priority for me.

As for the ruts, there's a lot of controversy. There are clearly many cases where they cannot possibly be cart ruts; but it's not the hardness of the stone that prevents. Given enough time, ruts can be made in any stone.

 

[Pauline]

Thanks, I feel better about missing Sentinum.

 

[Pauline]

I made a rough Google map of the route of the Via Flaminia, using the main towns that sites are near, and Sentinum is not on the main route. I set it to a grey marker. The other colors are for the different regions.

Was there another route in this area? The only place I have seen Sentinum mentioned as being on the Via Flaminia is on that Wandering Italy site.


View on Google Maps.