Ettore Roesler Franz and Bygone Rome

The Tiber Island [1] is located in the southern part of the Tiber's course across the city, connected to the mainland by two short but very ancient bridges, one of which is the subject of the painting [2]. The island neighbours the districts of Ripa, whom it belongs to, and Trastevere, the side where the aforesaid Caestius Bridge leads to, where an old wharf [3] is featured.

Sacred to Aesculapius since the earliest centuries, the island had a temple dedicated to the roman god of medicine, whose place was taken by the church of St.Bartholomew. But the ancient tradition of the island was maintained in the shape of a hospice where the sick were treated. Century after century it developed into a real hospital, still today one of Rome's most well-known medical institutions (the yellow building hidden by trees, in the left half of the photograph). The most evident change took place by the end of the 19th century, when high walls were built on both sides of the river to prevent the frequent floods. On this occasion, the banks were considerably enlarged and paved, as clearly seen in the photograph.

Sacred to Aesculapius since the earliest centuries, the island had a temple dedicated to the roman god of medicine, whose place was taken by the church of St.Bartholomew. But the ancient tradition of the island was maintained in the shape of a hospice where the sick were treated. Century after century it developed into a real hospital, still today one of Rome's most well-known medical institutions (the yellow building hidden by trees, in the left half of the photograph).

The most evident change took place by the end of the 19th century, when high walls were built on both sides of the river to prevent the frequent floods. On this occasion, the banks were considerably enlarged and paved, as clearly seen in the photograph.

Some old houses [4] were taken down, freeing the view over St.Bartholomew.
The bridge was slightly lengthened, its sloping ends were turned flat, and its two small side arches were enlarged to match the central one: in this way also the river flow was improved, preventing the water surface from rising again up to the street level very often, as it did before.
In the photograph, the left arch of the bridge appears much larger than it once used to be, when it was completely covered by the mill [5]. Similar small mills, built on floating platforms, almost completely surrounded the island. Moored in order to exploit the river's flow, they had been there for centuries, when due to the works they had to be removed, as well.
The small pier featured in the photograph is one of the stops of the river boat line, recently opened.