Hidden beneath a recently built bridge on the outskirts of town stands a significant piece of Cagli's history. The "Ponte Mallo" is a Roman bridge which dates back to 275 B.C. As cars and motorbikes zoom by on the modern bridge above, the "Ponte Mallo" sits quietly beneath, its large stones worn down through the ages with weeds sprouting from the cracks. The river that once flowed under it is now just a trickle of water overgrown with grass; its only inhabitants are guppies and small frogs.

The Romans constructed the Roman bridge over the course of 400 years. The first part of the construction, known as the "last republican period," focused on the creation of the two arches of the bridge. In order to construct the arches, the Romans used a successful technique that was complicated and unique. Lacking the technology to bind the large stones together, the builders gathered a large pile of sand around which they placed the stones of the arches. Once the stones were arranged, they pushed the sand away, leaving the bridge and its arches standing.
The second part of the construction known as the "Augosto" period took place two centuries later and included the first reconstruction of the bridge. During this period the Romans built the protruding walls near the arches in order to stabilize the bridge. The second reconstruction of the bridge occurred over two periods in Roman history known as the Traiano and the Adriano. During both these periods, the builders focused on elongating the bridge's walls while maintaining the bridge's original shape.
The road that once ran over the bridge was the famous Via Flaminia. Built by the Romans, it ran from Rome to Rimini and was solely for military use. After the invasion of the barbarians in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D. use of the road and the bridge was brought to a halt. Today the Via Flaminia runs next to the Ponte Mallo over the more recent bridge and still services traffic from Rome to Rimini. Use of the historic Roman Bridge though grew more infrequent after the periods of invasions and today the bridge stands alone with Via Flaminia now running alongside of it rather than over it. Although this 2,000-year-old bridge is only used by a few pedestrians and cars, the bridge still stands as a Cagli landmark and a remembrance of Italy's historical roots.
NEXT