DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0367
chap, xvii.] ANCIENT BRIDGE AND ROADS. 263
around.5 The parapets have been overturned, probably
by the large shrubs which flank it, insinuating their roots
among the uncemented masonry, and threatening ulti-
mately to destroy the whole structure. It is singular that
the only means of approach to Bieda from this side is by
this ancient bridge, which was probably on the Via Clodia.
From this point there seem to have been anciently two
roads to the town—one leading directly up to the summit
of the wedge-shaped table-land, the other still in use,
running beneath the cliff to the right, and sunk deep in
the tufo rock. The walls between which it passes are
hollowed out for the reception of the dead, not, as at
Veii, in square or upright niches, which could hold only
an urn or vase, but in low-arched recesses, as at Falleri, of
sufficient length to contain a body, with a deep hollow for
it to he in, and a groove around it for a lid of stone or
terra-cotta, apparently serving also to carry off the water
which might trickle from the ground above; just as in
the rock-hewn niches of Syracuse. Moreover, there are
not wanting sepulchral chambers hollowed in these cliffs,
nor the water-channel formed in the rock on one side to
keep the road dry and clean, and free from deposits
from the cliff above.
The road to Bieda creeps beneath the cliffs of the
ancient town, which are honey-combed with sepulchral
caverns, broken and blackened with smoke. Here and
there among them tall upright openings in the cliff show
the mouths of ancient sewers, and at intervals are fragments
of the ancient wall along the verge of the cliff; in one spot
filling a natural gap, as at Civita Castellana. The masonry
5 In order to accommodate the ma- m tne walls of several Etruscan and
sonryto the ascent of the road, a course Umbrian cities — Populonia, Fiesole,
of wedge-like form is introduced, which Perugia, Todi—and this feature is also
gives a slight rising towards the arch, to be seen in the substructions of the
Similar wedge courses I have observed Appian Way, near Aricia.
around.5 The parapets have been overturned, probably
by the large shrubs which flank it, insinuating their roots
among the uncemented masonry, and threatening ulti-
mately to destroy the whole structure. It is singular that
the only means of approach to Bieda from this side is by
this ancient bridge, which was probably on the Via Clodia.
From this point there seem to have been anciently two
roads to the town—one leading directly up to the summit
of the wedge-shaped table-land, the other still in use,
running beneath the cliff to the right, and sunk deep in
the tufo rock. The walls between which it passes are
hollowed out for the reception of the dead, not, as at
Veii, in square or upright niches, which could hold only
an urn or vase, but in low-arched recesses, as at Falleri, of
sufficient length to contain a body, with a deep hollow for
it to he in, and a groove around it for a lid of stone or
terra-cotta, apparently serving also to carry off the water
which might trickle from the ground above; just as in
the rock-hewn niches of Syracuse. Moreover, there are
not wanting sepulchral chambers hollowed in these cliffs,
nor the water-channel formed in the rock on one side to
keep the road dry and clean, and free from deposits
from the cliff above.
The road to Bieda creeps beneath the cliffs of the
ancient town, which are honey-combed with sepulchral
caverns, broken and blackened with smoke. Here and
there among them tall upright openings in the cliff show
the mouths of ancient sewers, and at intervals are fragments
of the ancient wall along the verge of the cliff; in one spot
filling a natural gap, as at Civita Castellana. The masonry
5 In order to accommodate the ma- m tne walls of several Etruscan and
sonryto the ascent of the road, a course Umbrian cities — Populonia, Fiesole,
of wedge-like form is introduced, which Perugia, Todi—and this feature is also
gives a slight rising towards the arch, to be seen in the substructions of the
Similar wedge courses I have observed Appian Way, near Aricia.