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Ponte Nomentano |
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1. |
Osteria di là del fiume, verso la Sabina |
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Ruine su i vestigi antichi |
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3. |
Via Nomentana verso Roma |
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4. |
Monte detto anticamente Sacro |
Spanning the river Aniene to the north of Rome, the Ponte Nomentano is a medieval adaptation of the ancient bridge that survives to this day in somewhat modified form. The crenellations date to the period of Nicholas V Parentucelli (1447-1455). Via Nomentana led to the ancient town of Nomentum, modern Mentana, passing between ancient ruins (2) on one side and an osteria (1) on the other. Vasi shows Via Nomentana (3) disappearing behind a hill on the right as it continues on to Rome in the other direction. Today the bridge has been by-passed by a branch of the road which crosses Ponte Tazio, a bridge built 100 meters downstream in 1922, leading to the Città Giardino Aniene. This model "garden city" suburb developed in the 1920s by the Istituto delle Case Popolari, was built along winding roads on the elevation known since antiquity as Monte Sacro (4), the sacred mount. Legend has it that when the Roman plebeians abandoned the city in the early 5th century BC to protest their treatment at the hands of nobles, they camped here until agreement was reached which gave them the right to elect Tribunes as their representatives to the Senate (Livy 2.32).
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