Furlo Gorge
Description:
The gorge between the Pietralata and Paganuccio mountains, formed by the waters of the Candillano River, a tributary of the Metauro. Along the gorge winds the ancient Roman road Via Flaminia, which once connected the coasts of the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas.
In the VIII century, on the orders of the Roman emperor Vespasian, a tunnel was broken here to facilitate the passage through the Via Flaminia in the narrowest part of the gorge. Hence, by the way, its name originated, the Latin word forulum means “little hole”.
The tunnel itself is small: 38.3 meters in length and 5.95 meters in height. However, if we consider that in Vespasian’s time the only tool of the workers were pickaxes, we can imagine how hard this labor was.
Until the 1980s, the tunnel was accessible by car. However, traffic was later closed due to the construction of two high-speed tunnels. Now the Furlo Gorge is part of the eponymous nature reserve.