The Roman aqueduct-bridge of Pont d'Ael
Resorts: Aymavilles
- From April to September:
from 9am to 7pm, every day - From October 1st to November 1st:
from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm, every day
Info onsite for guided tours, educational workshops and other cultural activities organized in the site.
Opening times are subject to variations: we advice to verify them by calling the phone numbers reported in the “Contact” area.
Full price ticket: € 5.00
Reduced entrance-fee: € 3.00 (19 - 25 years, groups of at least 25 paying visitors, specific deals)
Free:
- children and teenagers under 18 years
- visitors with disabilities and their companions
- teachers and other persons accompanying school groups
- on line reservation and purchase of the tickets are strongly advised on MiDA
- backpacks and bulky bags are not allowed
Buying the ticket is necessary only for entering the covered passage.
Accessibility
Site only partially accessible to physically disabled people in wheelchairs. It is possible to look out onto the bridge and observe its external structure.
Free entry for mothers accompanied by their children on 12 May 2024
In proximity of the Pont d’Ael hamlet, on the right side of the road leading up to Cogne from Aymavilles, an aqueduct-bridge in masonry and stone blocks built above the Grand-Eyvia stream gives evidence of the magnificence of the works realised during the Roman era, measuring 56 metres in height and more than 50 metres in length.
The monument had a double function of bridge and acqueduct and was consequently built on two different levels: a drain for canalizing water in the upper part and a covered passageway of about 1 meter width in the lower section, allowing the transit of men and animals.
An inscription on the northern front attributes the building’s construction at the year 3 B.C., to the private initiative of Caius Avillius Caimus, coming from Patavium (Padua): belonging to a well-off gens, he could invest in the mining activity for digging out the “bardiglio” marble, widely used in the erection of private and public buildings in the town of Aosta. The acqueduct-bridge played therefore a fundamental role in the extraction and processing of the marble of the local quarries.
The recent research and restoration works of the Pont d’Ael site, have consisted in archaeological excavations, as well as in the complete conservative renovation of the roman aqueduct-bridge and in recovering an adjacent building destined to become the site’s interpretation Centre.
The renovation project has allowed to create a visit itinerary following the original ring, permitting the visitors to pass on the above walkway, enter in the covered passage from the left river and go out from the right one, where a stretch of the ancient Roman service road, nowadays partially destructed, will be reproduced in the natural rock.