Via Praenestina

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Route of Via Praenestina from Rome in a map of ancient Latium. Voieprenestine planlatium.jpg
Route of Via Praenestina from Rome in a map of ancient Latium.
Roman Ponte di Nona Roman Ponte di Nona.png
Roman Ponte di Nona
Ponte amato Ponte amato.jpg
Ponte amato
Via Praenestina near Ponte Amato Via Praenestina.png
Via Praenestina near Ponte Amato

The Via Praenestina (modern Italian: Via Prenestina) was an ancient Roman road in central Italy.

Initially called Via Gabiana, from Gabii, the ancient city of Old Latium to which it ran, it received a new name having been extended as far as Praeneste (modern Palestrina). Once past Praeneste the road continued towards the Apennines and the source of the Anio River.

At the ninth mile the road crosses a ravine by the well-preserved and lofty Ponte di Nona, with seven arches, the finest ancient bridge in the neighbourhood of Rome. The line of the road is, considering the difficulty of the country beyond Gabii, very straight. Half-way between Gabii and Praeneste is a well-preserved single-arched bridge, Ponte Amato. [1]

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References

  1. Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Ashby, Thomas (1911). "Praenestina, Via". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 244. Ashby cites his own contribution to Papers of the British School at Rome, i. 149 sqq.