Ponte Diocleziano

The Ponte Diocleziano in Lanciano is an ancient bridge beneath the cathedral of Santa Maria del Ponte. Built across the Pietrosa ditch, its surviving structure records successive phases of the city's history.

Why it matters

The bridge is associated with ancient Anxanum and the development of Lanciano's historic centre. The Ministry of Culture's catalogue attributes its late-imperial phase to the people of Anxanum. A chapel raised on the bridge later developed into the sanctuary of the Madonna del Ponte, so the structure became both a crossing and the foundation of an important religious site.

What to notice

The bridge preserves evidence of several building phases. Its late-antique foundations were followed by medieval rebuilding after the earthquake of 1088. Pointed arches are associated with that later phase. The structure also formed part of the historic urban fabric: in 1520, a vaulted passage was opened beneath the church, with a covered pedestrian corridor alongside it.

Context and history

The crossing connected the quarter of Prato with the plain of the fairs across the Pietrosa ditch. The original bridge is attributed to late-antique Anxanum. Following the earthquake of 1088, it was rebuilt in the medieval period. A chapel dedicated to the Virgin was established on the bridge by the thirteenth century and was enlarged over the following centuries into the church of the Madonna del Ponte, now the city's cathedral.

The passage opened in 1520 incorporated the bridge into Lanciano's developing street system. Archaeological investigation of spaces beneath the cathedral and the church of San Francesco has brought further attention to the bridge's construction phases and to the history of the city's religious sites.