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The Tiber Island (Italian: Isola Tiberina, Latin: Insula Tiberina) is a boat-shaped island in the southern bend of the Tiber river in Rome. Approximately 270 m in length and 67 m at its widest, the island is well-known for being the site of an ancient temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of medicine and healing.
Legends
Origin
Legend has it that after the fall of the hated tyrant Tarquinius Superbus (510 BC), the angry Romans threw his body into the Tiber. It settled onto the bottom, where dirt and silt accumulated around it.Another version says that the people gathered up the wheat and grain of their despised ruler and threw it into the Tiber, where it eventually became the foundation of the island.
Owing to its dark origins, the Tiber Island was, in Roman times, considered a place of ill omen. Until the temple was built, nobody went onto the island, and only the worst criminals were condemned to pass the remainder of their lives on it.
Construction of the Temple
The island's boat shape is all that remains of the great temple which once stood there. Accounts say that in 293 BC, there was a great plague in Rome. Upon consulting the Sibyl, the Roman Senate was instructed to build a temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, and sent a delegation to obtain a statue of the deity.Upon its return trip up the Tiber river, a snake (a symbol of Aesculapius) was seen slithering off the ship and swimming onto the island. This was seen as the god's own choice for his temple's location, and the temple was built on the island, thus ending the plague.
This location was probably chosen for the temple due to its separation from the rest of the city, which meant that it would not be reached by plague and illnesses.
Factual history
The island eventually became so identified with the temple it supported that, as a reminder of the miraculous event, it was modeled to resemble a ship. Travertine facing was added by the banks to resemble a ship's prow and stern, and an obelisk was erected in the middle, symbolizing the vessel's mast. Walls were put around the island, and it actually came to resemble a Roman ship. In the Christian age the obelisk was replaced by a column with a cross on the top. After it was destroyed in 1867, Pope Pius IX had an aedicula, called Spire, put in its place. This monument, designed by Ignazio Giacometti, is decorated with the statues of the four saints related to the island: St. Bartholomew, St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Francis and St. John.
Although little of the Aesculapius temple remains, the island can still be considered a place of healing, as a modern-day hospital (Fatebenefratelli Hospital) stands on the western section of the island.
In 998 Emperor Otto III had a new basilica, that of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, built over the temple's ruins. This was dedicated to his friend, the martyr Adalbert of Prague. The name of St. Bartholomew was added only later; today the church is commonly known as San Bartolomeo all'Isola.
Remains of the travertine are still visible at the east end of the island. Parts of the obelisk are now in the museum in Naples.
The island is linked to the rest of Rome by two bridges. The Ponte Fabricio is the oldest bridge in Rome, dating to 62 BC. It connects the island from the northeast to the Campus Martius. The Ponte Cestio, dating to 46 BC, connects the island to Trastevere on the south.
See also
External links
- LacusCurtius • Rome — Tiber Island (Platner & Ashby, 1929)
- Pictures and Links Isola Tiberina
- Satellite image of the island
Islands of Italy | Geography of Rome | River Tiber | Topography of Ancient Rome
Изола Тиберина | Tiberinsel | Isola Tiberina | Ilha Tiberina | Tiberön
"Tiber Island"