Triponzo

Triponzo, a village in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria at the confluence of the Corno and the Nera Rivers, 42°50N 12°56E. It is a "frazione" of Cerreto di Spoleto, which is 3 km (2 mi) W. Its population is around 400.

The name of the town must surely derive from Latin "*Tripontium", meaning "three bridges", presumably one over each branch of the rivers; but no Roman bridge has survived. It is famous among epigraphers for a Roman inscription (CIL IX.4541 = ILLRP 1275a), carved in the live rock on the outer face of the modern SS 209 road tunnel a few hundred metres W of the town, which records the building of the Roman road from Spoletium to Nursia by order of the Roman Senate.

Triponzo is also notable for at least one medieval church, S. Caterina, and sulphureous springs, about 1.5 km (1 mi) NE of town, the water of which is considered to have therapeutic properties: a combination spa and hydroelectric facility have been under construction here since the late 20th century.

External links

* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Umbria/Perugia/Cerreto_di_Spoleto/Triponzo/home.html Triponzo at LacusCurtius] with photograph of the inscription

"(This entry incorporates text from LacusCurtius, by permission.)"