The plain of Ozieri, now crossed by roads and the railway connecting Sassari and Olbia, was already crossed by one of the main communication routes in Roman times.
It should therefore not be surprising the presence of an imposing Roman bridge along the ancient road, near Ozieri; this is a center a center of particular importance in Sardinian history and prehistory; here testimonies of the ancient settlements have been found.
The village of Ozieri is the main center of Monteacuto; it is located in a small valley that winds its way through the surrounding hills and slopes.
In the middle of the hamlet of San Nicola, located further down the valley, we find the nuraghe of Sa mandra ‘e sa Giua; here we find also the remains of some Roman buildings.
Pont’Ezzu, our current destination, is located less than a kilometer from San Nicola on the plain crossed by the Rio Mannu river.
Visit to the Roman bridge
On a sunny spring day, we reach the Rio Mannu which flows placidly between the wide banks.
On our right, in the middle of the meadows in front of the embankment, we see the ancient bridge; today the structure no longer crosses any river, as the watercourse has been diverted in recent decades. Pont’Ezzu, dating back to the Roman Empire, still amazes today for its size; composed of six arches, it extends for about 90 meters!
The fact that it has a largely intact structure makes us understand that, unlike other buildings of that time, it was not decommissioned to recover building material, remaining used even in the following centuries.
Pont’Ezzu is not the only Roman bridge that we can see in this area… Certainly it is the main one and the most charming!
