Today, it is almost unimaginable that, in the 1st century AD, ancient Eporedia boasted one of the three most important river ports in Europe. Equally difficult to imagine is that, even then, the opposite bank of the Dora, so distant, could be reached on foot, on horseback, or by cart with ease. Yet for centuries there was a bridge that made exactly that possible: the Great Bridge, or Pons Maior, stretching no less than 150 metres and beginning here, half a kilometre downstream from the Ponte Vecchio. A masterpiece of engineering and architecture that, if any proof were needed, testifies to the economic and political power of Eporedia.
A brief explanation is needed. Despite the efficiency of the Roman road network, transporting goods by cart was slow and expensive. It has been estimated that the price of wheat could even double every 400 kilometres or so. Water transport therefore became far more economical, encouraging merchants to use river routes, even upstream.
For this reason, the river port of Eporedia was both essential and impressive. On the city bank stood a quay approximately 150 metres long, built of stone faced with concrete and supported by three rows of wooden piles driven into the riverbed. Every day it welcomed the many boats that, after traveling up the River Po and then entering the Dora, reached the city carrying large cargoes of grain, spices, marble, and manufactured goods—cargo ready to be redistributed by road towards the Alpine passes.
Just as impressive, and even more spectacular, was the Great Bridge. It consisted of ten arches: the four central spans measured approximately 17 metres each, while the smaller lateral arches measured around 9 metres. These arches rested on massive piers, each supported by around one hundred timber piles with metal tips driven some four metres into the sandy riverbed. The roadway was protected by finely crafted stone parapets. Across the Pons Maior—aligned with the city’s cardo maximus—ran a paved road almost six metres wide, flanked by two side pavements, leading onto the road that connected Eporedia with Augusta Taurinorum, present-day Turin.
The Great Bridge was ultimately defeated by the force of the river, probably towards the end of the Roman Empire, between the 5th and 6th centuries, during a period of severe flooding. As the sandy riverbed weakened, the structure gradually collapsed under its own weight and came to rest on the bottom of the Dora. Even today, on the small island that emerges near the opposite bank, its blocks of worked concrete and ornamental marble can still be clearly seen.
And yet, for centuries, nothing was known of its existence. Ironically, it was water itself that brought this ancient story back to light: first the flood of 1977, then that of 1993, revealed the remains of both the port and the bridge. They allowed archaeologists and historians to study them and, at least through their accounts, bring them back to life some 1,500 years after they had disappeared.
