Ponte (rione of Rome)

Ponte is the fifth rione of Rome. Its name (meaning "bridge" in Italian) comes after Ponte Sant'Angelo, which connects Ponte with the rione of Borgo. This Bridge was built by Emperor Adrianus (and originally named after him "Pons Aelius") to connect his mausoleum to the rest of the city. Actually Pope Sixtus V changed the limits so that the bridge belongs now to Borgo, not to Ponte anymore, but the area kept its name. Its logo is obviously a bridge.

In ancient Rome, the area belonged to the IX Augustan region called "Circus Flaminius", that was a part of the Campus Martius. Nero built another bridge, that was called "Neronianus" or "triumphalis" because the Via Triumphalis ("via Trionfale" in Italian) was passing through it: Starting with Titus, the victorious Emperors celebrating their Triumphs entered in Rome marching through it.

Nero's bridge was also called "Pons Vaticanus" (meaning "Vatican Bridge" in Latin), because it connected the "Ager Vaticanus" to the left bank, later "Pons ruptus" ("broken bridge"), because it was already broken in the Middle Ages. In ancient Rome there was a port that was used to carry the materials for temples and great works to the Campus Martius.

The active life of the area went on during the Middle Ages and the modern period, and this activity deleted almost all signs of ancient Rome in the rione. The population increased because many people moved from the surrounding hills to Ponte because of the lack of water in other parts of Rome, since it was then possible to drink the water of the River Tiber. Moreover, the rione was on the edge of Ponte Sant'Angelo, thus all the main streets of Rome were leading there and the area was full of pilgrims going to the Vatican. That is why it was full of locals, restaurants, shops of holy objects, etc.

During the 16th century the rione was very important for its streets; that is why several palaces of the greatest families of Rome were built according to the projects of famous artists, thus making the area very famous.

A common event in the area was to see a small procession led by a person dressed in black, covering his face, carrying a crucifix on his shoulders. On a wagon there was a chained condemned man kissing continuously another image of Jesus. The destination of the procession was the square in front of Ponte Sant'Angelo, where there were gallows to hang the man.

Although Ponte was a quite rich area, it was the most affected one by the frequent flooding of the River Tiber.

The look of the rione changed completely after Rome became capital of reunited Italy in 1870: the embankments of the river were built to stop the flooding and new bridges were made to connect Vatican City and the rione Prati to the rest of Rome. All the narrow streets leading to the river were lost, to make space for the embankments, but it is still possible to see the typical look of the older rione in the inner parts of the area.

External links

* [http://mp_pollett.tripod.com/rione05.htm History, maps and images of the rione]