Guided Tour of the Pont d’Ael aqueduct-bridge

Pont d’Ael aqueduct-bridge was built in the village of Aymavilles above the Grand-Eyvia stream.
It consists of a big masonry bridge 56 meters high and more than 50 meters long. The monument is split into two levels: the upper-level drains and canalizes the water, whereas the lower-level provides a covered passageway for the transit of men and animals.

An inscription on the northern front attributes the building’s construction to the private initiative of Caius Avillius Caimus, from Patavium (Padova), around 3 B.C. Caimus invested in the mining activity for digging out the marble, widely used in the erection of private and public buildings in the town of Aosta. The aqueduct-bridge was a private building that supplied water to the local quarries.

Despite no longer being used as an aqueduct, this monument continued to be used over the centuries.

During recent archaeological investigations, an empty structure was discovered below the pedestrian passageway; this is created from a series of hollowed out closed chambers that serve to lighten and render more flexible the structure.

Today the visit itinerary follows the original ring structure, and thanks to a steel boardwalk, a stretch of the ancient Roman service road reproduced in the natural rock has been rebuilt

This monument is located in a wonderful habitat, with many kinds of orchids and a wide variety of butterflies.

Discover here all the guided tours of the Roman archaeological sites of the Aosta Valley