Appia Road Segment 13

From FONDI (Fundi) to FORMIA (Formiae)

This segment preserves in excellent condition a 2 km section of the Appia road along the Sant’Andrea valley (photo 1) before Itri.

At Fondi, ancient Fundi, still surrounded by walls from the 3rd century BC, the Appia road crosses the town centre from door to door.

On leaving Fondi ( Fundi), a wall in opus reticulatum (*) is well preserved for 150 m along the route.

We still follow the SS7 – modern Appia road – for about 4 km until we reach a junction with an inter-farm road. Here the modern road faces the Sant’Andrea valley (photo 2 and photo 3) on the right orographic slope, while the ancient road passes on the left.

This segment is interesting because it concentrates many technical works: from the 10 m embankment wall, which holds the road at its steepest point, to a complex of buried and interconnected cisterns for a large water deposit.

In addition, the original paving stones (*) are still visible as this section was restored during the Bourbon age (*) and is now protected by the “Parco Naturale dei Monti Auruci“.

The road then passes through ancient Itri, a town of Aurunca origin (*), where some artefacts are still preserved.

Continuing on towards Formia, ancient Formiae, we pass a 1st century BC mausoleum attributed to orator and politician Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) and completely stripped of its stone facing and, just before the town, an ancient fountain.

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in glossary.