Tourist Attraction in Teramo:
Necropoli di Ponte Messato

Of pre-Roman origin and extended in the Roman period, it develops on the sides of the ancient cobbled road (Via Cecilia, surrounded by monuments, defined by archaeologists, the sacred way of Interamnia (due proportions is in fact a sort of Via Appia teramana for the analogies with the ancient Via Appia near Rome) The area came to light by accident in 1961, during the works for the construction of a garage for the upkeep of coaches at that time.The yard workers, who did not have the appropriate sensitivity and knowledge of the importance of the archaeological remains discovered, according to some testimonies, "they broke out the enormous urns in the hope of finding gold coins." Giammario Sgattoni, learned of the find, was one of the first to intervene on the spot and to tell about the episode in an article published in the journal Teramo in 1974. Adriano La Regina, then Archaeological Officer for the Superintendence at Antic hills for Abruzzo and Molise, which brought to light sixteen mausoleums dating back to the end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD. In the investigated area of ​​1000 square meters, they were found burials dating from a period dating from the Iron Age to the Roman Imperial Age. In 1982, following the discovery of a further stretch of Roman road and mausoleum with ashes of the dead, it was decided to proceed to a second excavation campaign. Between 1983 and 1985, under the direction of Luisa Migliorati and Vincenzo D'Ercole, the investigation allowed to identify a more extensive archaeological emergency including the glare of the Roman age and a necropolis with square and circular monumental tombs with cinerary urns inside. From 1997 to 2014 the research and excavations are carried out by Vincenzo Torrieri with the construction of the Parco della monumentale necropoli of giulio claudia age on the "Via Sacra" and the discovery of a large Roman-republican temple, on the Etruscan-Lazio model, of 21 meters for 31 meters. The Roman road, Interamnium Vorsus, was supposed to be a branch of Via Cecilia leading to Sabina, rising up the Vomano Valley, and joining Via Salaria in Rome. In the year 2000, a temple of the Hellenistic-Roman era and a further part of the Iron Age necropolis were discovered during the excavations of the roadworks for the construction of the Teramo ring road. The area is 300 meters further southwest than the one found in 1982. It was deduced that the area was terraced to bury the dead in the period between the Iron Age and the Archaic Age (10th century BC Christ sixth century BC). It was possible to ascertain that the area closest to Ponte Messato (then Teramo), formerly discovered, is older than that later discovered. It is conceivable that the necropolis of Ponte Messo La Cona was the most important and extensive of the necropolises in the outer ring around the ancient city of Teramo (Intermamna Praetuttiorum). Other necropolis near the core of the ancient Teramo were found near the confluence of Tordino with the Vezzola Iron Age tombs in the public garden outside Porta San Giorgio,

Attractions in Teramo