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The Monumental Bridge of Ariccia: the Viaduct of Pius IX that Changed the Appian Way
The Monumental Bridge of Ariccia connects the Castelli Romani to Albano Laziale. It has a length of 312 metres, and three tiers of superimposed arches — 6 at the bottom, 12 in the middle, 18 at the top. It is the greatest work of 19th century road engineering in the Papal States, and still today carries the Via Appia over the valley of Parco Chigi, with traffic passing where once pilgrims toiled up very steep ramps.
A Building Site That Lasted Almost a Decade
The idea came from Pope Gregory XVI, although he died before its construction. Pope Pius IX revived the project in 1846, entrusting the design to architect Ireneo Aleandri and site direction to engineer Giuseppe Bertolini. The style is Neoclassical, inspired by Roman aqueducts and Vanvitelli's Acquedotto Carolino, with a masonry structure and peperino stone cladding. Pius IX himself inaugurated the bridge on 12 October 1854, after visiting the building site several times during the works. At the four extremities, there are travertine columns that resemble the milestones of the Old Appian Way.
Two Collapses and Two Rebirths
On 2 June 1944 the upper arches were mined during the German retreat. Rebuilt by 1948, the bridge suffered a second collapse of the central piers in 1967. The reinforced concrete reconstruction — never clad in peperino as planned — is still visible today. In 2022 the ANAS authority completed the bridge’s structural consolidation.
