Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Architecture and War

I'm going to take a closer look at these subjects while I'm in Europe, both ancient and modern.

Ponte Fabricio in Rome, Italy was built in 62 BC. A bridge was needed to be built over the 200 foot wide Tiber River. Boats went along the river constantly, so the bridge couldn’t be too low. It couldn’t have only one arch, because it would be impossible to climb. The Roman engineers came up with a two - arched stone bridge with three smaller arches in between the larger ones. Ponte Fabricio was made of stone because that made it fire proof.

This bridge is still in use. You can see it here. We're planning on crossing the River Tiber using the Ponte Fabricio.


2 comments:

  1. I'm a little envious that you will be visiting Italy soon. Are you going to be traveling to Cosenza, Calabria to visit our roots? There is a lot of history there too. Great writeup on the Ponte Fabricio. I look forward to reading more.

    Love,
    Grandpa

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  2. Yep, we're planning to go to Cosenza.

    Thanks for reading.

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