We are near the Tiber Island , a symbolic place of the entire Eternal City , the river island of Rome . From a geological point of view it is nothing more than a very last offshoot, which reaches up to the river, of the Capitoline Hill. Apart from this, however, the important thing to note is that, being an island area, inevitably only a bridge allows you to reach it. And since ancient times there have been two bridges that connect the banks of the Tiber and the Tiber Island. Today your local tour guide will tell you about the oldest one, or rather the one that is certainly best preserved: the Ponte Fabricio.

It is one of the two bridges that connect the Tiber island to Rome and was built in 62 BC and then restored several times over the centuries. In particular, at the end of the sixteenth century, the pope Sixtus V was concerned with modernizing the cit, especially from a road point of view. And it is to him that a strange legend is linked, which has to do with the four marble heads that can be seen at the ends of the bridge. Do you notice them? I am on the bank side of the Tiber, towards the so called Jewish Ghetto. What are those four strange marble heads doing? What is their origin? According to tradition, Sixtus V asked four architects to rearrange the ancient Fabricio bridge, finding useful projects for its extensive restoration . The four architects immediately started working, but little by little jealousy and envy took over. Each had a different project and their heated rivalry even resulted in acts of sabotage. For this reason the restoration work went slowly, so much so that it angered the pontiff himself. Having learned of the matter, Sixtus V decided to punish the four architects by having them beheaded. After all, with this pope the number of executions increased dramatically, so there is absolutely nothing strange about this! Sixtus V was considered an energetic man, a king who had one main aim: security. He made justice a significant element of his short pontificate, which lasted only 5 years, as we are also reminded by a famous pasquinade which had to do with the sculptures of Saints Peter and Paul at Ponte Sant'Angelo (you can read in detail here). The interesting thing is that, in the end, a restoration project went ahead and the Fabricio bridge was actually refurbished. The pontiff, in memory of the decapitation and in any case of the work carried out by the four, had these four marble heads added. This is the tradition, although archeology tells us otherwise.

Probably, in fact, these four heads represent border stones, placed here by the Romans, and dedicated to Hermes, the protector god of travelers and roads. Nothing strange therefore and, indeed, those herms placed right there had a very specific meaning. Regardless of tradition, however, the charm of the bridge lies in its ancient origins, still clearly visible today. If you stand on the left side of the bridge, on the Tiber Island side, you will very easily notice the remains of the original inscription placed on the arches of the construction in ancient times. A timely document of Roman engineering and how, right from the start, the ancient Romans managed to build works that lasted for the following millennia...