This ancient bridge is not accessible and only the remains of one arched span is left. Its a strange sight - just a single, a massive arch in the middle of the river. Weeds also spring out of some of the brickwork but you can still see the carved dragons above the arches. It makes for an atmospheric photo. It’s real name is the Aemilius Bridge but it is nicknamed “Ponte Rotto”, meaning “The Broken Bridge”. Constructed in 179 B.C. by the consul, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the bridge survived until the end of the 1500's but severe flooding damaged it badly and strong currents kept hammering away at it. It’s not the only bridge to have collapsed over the Tiber River. Ponte Aurelio, constructed by Marcus Aurelius in the 3rd century to link Trastevere to the city, was dodgy enough to earn the nickname Ponte Tremolo (wobbly bridge). It was eventually washed away in the 8th century. The more substantial Ponte San’ Angelo collapsed under the weight of too many pilgrims in Holy Week, 1450. Hundreds died. Several attempts were made to resurrect Ponte Rotto and at one time even Michelangelo was brought in to work on it but by 1887, it was replaced by a new and far less attractive, but very functional structure, the Palatine Bridge (Ponte Palatino). This newer bridge is the best spot to get a good photo of the broken bridge.

The first name of this bridge states the obvious. Ponte Rotto means "Broken Bridge". The second name Aemilius bridge indicates one of the initiators of the construction - the censor and consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Built in 179 BC, the bridge is the oldest in Rome. In summer, the Tiber gives a deceptive impression of a quiet shallow river. However, during the spring floods, it gains power, which demolished this and other bridges in Rome several times. Even Michelangelo, commissioned by Pope Paul III, was engaged in the restoration of this bridge. Really not for long. By 1887, the Romans realized the futility of repairs and put a new Palatine Bridge (Ponte Palatino) next to it. And the Ponte Rotto resembles with one arch what it was 2 millennia earlier.