Ponte di Tiberio and Borgo San Giuliano in Rimini: history, what to see and how to get there

01Ponte di Tiberio and Borgo San Giuliano at a glance

A trip from Hotel Viking, the Antonioli family's 3-star hotel in Viserbella di Rimini. The Ponte di Tiberio (Tiberius Bridge) is Rimini's emblem: a Roman bridge 2,000 years old and still in one piece. It joins the old town to Borgo San Giuliano, the old fishermen's quarter, with its brightly painted houses and murals in honour of Fellini.

From Hotel Viking in Viserbella it is about 20 minutes by car or 23 minutes by bike along the seafront. You can also take the no. 4 bus, which stops 100 metres from the hotel.

02History

• Building work on the bridge over the river Ariminus (now the Marecchia) began under Augustus in AD 14 and was completed by Tiberius in AD 21, as the inscription along the inner parapets records.
• Strictly speaking it should be called the "bridge of Augustus and Tiberius". It has been a national monument since 1885 and appears on Rimini's coat of arms.
• It is built of Istrian stone, with five arches that get wider towards the middle. The central arch is the largest, spanning about 10.70 m.
• The piers have cutwaters set at an angle to the bridge, in line with the river's flow, to soften the force of the current. It is one of the reasons the bridge has lasted some 2,000 years. Recent surveys found that it stands on a bed of wooden piles.
• The Roman consular roads to the north began at the bridge: the Via Emilia (laid out in 187 BC by the consul Aemilius Lepidus) to Piacenza, and the Via Popilia to Ravenna and Aquileia.
• The last arch on the Borgo San Giuliano side is smaller and less regular than the rest. It was knocked down in 551–552 in the war between the Goths and the Byzantines (under General Narses) and rebuilt several times since. About 150 stones "left over" from the restorations are on show in an enclosure near the Piazza sull'Acqua.

03What to see

Legend says the devil built the bridge and was then outwitted by Saint Julian. The two marks on the upstream parapet that look like goat's hoofprints were more likely sockets for pulleys used to haul goods up from boats.

It even survived the Second World War, when the retreating Germans tried to blow it up. Today it is about 74 m long and has been pedestrian-only since 30 May 2020.

In 1930 the Marecchia was diverted further north. The old riverbed is now Parco XXV Aprile and a stretch of still water with the Piazza sull'Acqua, where you can see the arches reflected.

Borgo San Giuliano, across the bridge from the centre, was the old fishermen's quarter and dates back to around the year 1000. In 1979, faced with plans to demolish it, the residents held the first "Festa de' Borg". The murals started with the second festival in 1980, and since 1994 most of them have been devoted to Federico Fellini.

The Borgo's church of San Giuliano holds the altarpiece "Martyrdom of Saint Julian", thought to be one of Paolo Veronese's last works, and a polyptych by Bittino da Faenza (early 15th century).

Sources: Comune di Rimini · Wikipedia · Visit Rimini. Information checked in October 2026.

04Visitor information

The bridge is pedestrian, always open and free, and Borgo San Giuliano is a neighbourhood you can stroll around as you please. You can get onto the bridge from Corso d'Augusto or from Viale Tiberio.

Opening times and prices may change: always check the official website before you go.

Sources: Comune di Rimini · Wikipedia. Information checked in October 2026.

05How to get there from Hotel Viking

By car: 8.1 km, about 20 minutes depending on traffic. The old town is a restricted traffic zone (ZTL), so leave the car in one of the public car parks on the edge of the centre. Your space back at the hotel stays free in our private car park.

By bike: 6.1 km, about 23 minutes, almost all of it on the Parco del Mare cycle path into Rimini. We have bike storage at the hotel, there are hire bikes along the way and a bike-hire shop 1.5 km away (cycling holidays).

By bus: bus no. 4 stops 100 metres from the hotel (stop 25) and runs to Rimini railway station; from there it's about 15 minutes on foot.

06Nearby

• Borgo San Giuliano, with its Fellini murals and the church of San Giuliano (just across the bridge, ~200 m)
• Piazza sull'Acqua and Parco XXV Aprile (on the water below the bridge)
• The stones of the Ponte di Tiberio left over from restoration (near the Piazza sull'Acqua)
• Piazza Cavour (~350 m, about a 5-minute walk)
• Castel Sismondo and Fellini Museum (~450 m, about a 6–7-minute walk)
• Tempio Malatestiano (~700 m, about a 10-minute walk)
• Osterie, wine bars and restaurants serving Romagna cooking in the lanes of Borgo San Giuliano
• Castel Sismondo
• Teatro Galli and Piazza Cavour
• Tempio Malatestiano

More ideas on our things to do in Rimini, events in Rimini and inland hills and villages pages.

07What our guests say

What guests say about the hotel's location and days out.

Handy for everything

«excellent location, close to everything, the sea included, but on a quiet street.»

Day trips

«You can book trips inland with the help of the reception staff»

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