Audio Guide Rome – The Tiber Island
Audio Guide Rome – The Tiber Island – Back to Rome
There is a legend which says that the Tiber Island was formed by the mud which had covered the wheat and grain which belonged to the Tarquinius family and which was thrown into the river by the people of Rome after the fall of the hated tyrant Tarquinius Superbus (510 BC).
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The Tiber Island
is the result of alluvial deposits and volcanic rocks.
In Ancient times the Tiber Island was a place of worship of God Aesculapius.
The legend tells that Aesculapius’ snake was brought to Rome from Epidaurus with the intention to fight the plague of the year 293 BC. The snake would jump from the ship and would then indicate the place where to built the temple.
Tiber Island to honour Aesculapius would take the shape of a ship and the obelisk would stand as the mainmast.
Quite close to the temple, it is possible to see the hospital which was the first one to be built in Ancient Rome and nowadays it is one of the most important hospitals in Rome.
The Island has been linked to the rest of Rome by two bridges.
The Pons Fabricius or Ponte dei Quattro Capi (Quattro Capi -“four heads”- refers to the two marble pillars of the two-faced Janus herms on the parapet), is the oldest Roman bridge and was built by Lucius Fabricius in 62 BC.
Due to the several floods from the River Tiber, the bridge had to go through different maintenance works .
The smallest arch was used to let the water go through during floods.
The bridge was also called Pons Judaeorum being close to the “Ghetto”.
In 46 BC, the Pons Cestius was built by Lucius Sestius. This is a Roman stone bridge built after the Pons Fabricius. It was mostly rebuilt towards the end of the 19th century.
The Tiber Island
