Italy’s worst drought in 70 years has exposed the piers of an ancient bridge over the Tiber River once used by Roman emperors but which fell into disrepair in the third century. Two piers of the Nero Bridge are visible for much of the summer near the Vittorio Emanuele Bridge that crosses the river near the Vatican. The bridge was built in the first century for Emperor Nero to reach his gardens near the Janiculum Hill near today’s St. Peter’s Square, historian Anthony Majanlahti said. The bridge had already collapsed by the third century, traffic diverted to the nearby Sant’Angelo Bridge, which carried pilgrims past Castel Sant’Angelo to the Vatican. Nero’s Bridge was originally thought to have had four piers, but Majanlahti says two were dismantled in the 19th century to allow better river traffic flow. “Because the river water level is so low now due to the widespread drought across Italy, we can see a lot more of the bridge piers than we normally could,” Majanlahti said. In normal water level years, one of the bridge piers can often see the driest season, but this year two are visible. The Italian government has declared a state of emergency in several regions due to the prolonged drought and accompanying heat. The drought has also exposed a World War II reservoir on Italy’s largest river, the Po, as well as a 20th-century lake ordinance.
