page_title: Vulci
section_title: Ponte dell'Abbadia
hierarchical_section_title: Vulci / The Site / Ponte dell'Abbadia
caption_attribution_description: English: Etruscan quay in Vulci, Italy.
context_page_description: Vulci or Volci was a rich and important Etruscan city.
  As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name ... was scarcely remembered, but which now, for the enormous treasures of antiquity it has yielded, is exalted above every other city of the ancient world."
  Many impressive remains of the city can be seen today.
  Vulci was located near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea about 80 km northwest of Rome, on the Fiora River, between Montalto di Castro and Canino.
  The Vulci, like other Etruscans, became master sculptors in bronze as acknowledged by ancient writers. Although most large bronzes have been lost, there remain some magnificent examples of Etruscan bronze work such as the Chimera of Arezzo and the Monteleone chariot, possibly made in Vulci.
  In the 19th century thousands of the ancient tombs of Vulci were discovered, and many were so well known and spectacular, such as the Tomb of the Sun and Moon, that they were included on the Grand Tour of Europe.
context_section_description: The Ponte dell'Abbadia over the Fiora is a Roman bridge with a main arch of 20 m span and 30 m above the stream and was built upon an Etruscan bridge (the Tufo buttresses are very probably Etruscan, for they are evidently the piers of the original bridge). It carried the ancient road and the Romans, unusually, incorporated an aqueduct on it leading to Vulci about 1.5 km away. The overflow of the aqueduct after it fell into disrepair caused the "curtain of stalactites".
  The waters still flow from an aqueduct into the gardens of the adjoining Castello dell'Abbadia.
  The site also houses a mithraeum.
caption: Ancient Etruscan quay on the river Fiora
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