The water level of the Tiber River in Rome has dropped sharply due to weeks without rain, exposing the remains of an ancient bridge near St. Peter's Basilica. This was reported by infohub.kz.
The structure, known as Nero's Bridge, once connected Rome's city center with the right bank of the Tiber. According to Antonella Bonini, an archaeologist at Rome's cultural heritage superintendency, Nero is the most famous person linked to this area, because precisely in Nero's circus, where the Vatican is now located, the Apostle Peter was martyred. However, scholars consider the bridge to be older than Nero's era, built by Caligula, Nero's uncle, and it existed as early as 39 AD.
According to Giovanni Giganti, coordinator of the Rome civil protection service's center for water management, the Tiber's flow has fallen below 80 cubic meters per second, about half the historic average for July. He described the current situation as a major water crisis, noting that although this winter had quite abundant rainfall, the subsequent dry periods were quite long.