Ancient Roman carts, wagons and chariots cut these grooves in the hard surface of volcanic black basalt rocks beneath the Arco dei Gavi in Verona, Veneto, Italy, which was built for a noble family in the 1st century AD, demolished by the French in 1805, but then rebuilt in 1932 on a new site by Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, complete with this short relaid stretch of Roman highway. The arch once spanned Verona’s access to the Via Postumia or Via Sacra, an important road linking Liguria in northern Italy’s far west to ancient Illyria in the western Balkans.
Image details
Contributor:
Terence Kerr / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2GDA6G4File size:
34.5 MB (2.4 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4256 x 2832 px | 36 x 24 cm | 14.2 x 9.4 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
18 July 2010Location:
Verona, Veneto, ItalyMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Verona, Veneto, Italy: grooves cut by Ancient Roman carts, wagons and chariots are clearly visible in the hard surface of volcanic black basalt rocks beneath the Arco dei Gavi, which was built for a noble family in the 1st century AD, demolished by the French in 1805, but then rebuilt on a new site by Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini in 1932, complete with a short relaid stretch of Roman highway. On its original site, the arch spanned Verona’s access to the Via Postumia or Via Sacra, an important Roman road linking Liguria in northern Italy’s far west to ancient Illyria, the western Balkan region stretching from Albania to Istria in modern Croatia. It now stands in a nearby location beside the Castelvecchio fortress and facing the River Adige. Although the Arco dei Gavi looks like a typical Roman Corinthian triumphal arch celebrating rulers or military victories, it was designed by architect Lucius Vitruvius Cerdo purely to glorify the powerful local Gavi dynasty, and its niches once displayed statues of Gavi family members. In the medieval era, the arch was used as a gateway in Verona’s city walls, but when Italy came under Napoleonic rule, French engineers viewed it as a hindrance to local traffic and to military mule trains. They demolished it, leaving the rubble piled up for decades in Piazza Cittadella before it was moved under an arch of the city’s Roman Arena. In the early 1930s, Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, exhorting Italians to identify with their Roman past, decided to rebuild the arch on a new site, re-using some of the original stones. The reconstruction was based on 16th century plans drawn up by the influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, as well as a wooden model made prior to the 1805 demolition. A grey marble rectangle now marks the place where the arch once stood. D0612.A7319