Tiber Island. The Tiber Island is the only island in the part of the Tiber which runs through Rome.
Tiber Island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. The island is boat-shaped, approximately 270 metres long and 67 metres wide, and has been connected with bridges to both sides of the river since antiquity.
Being a seat of the ancient temple of Asclepius and later a hospital, the island is associated with medicine and healing. The Fatebenefratelli Hospital founded in the 16th century, and the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island dating from the 10th century are located on the island.
The island has been linked to the rest of Rome by two bridges since antiquity, and was once called Insula Inter-Duos-Pontes which means the island between the two bridges. The Ponte Fabricio, the only original bridge in Rome, connects the island from the northeast to the Field of Mars in the rione Sant'Angelo.
The Ponte Cestio, of which only some original parts survived, connects the island to Trastevere on the south. There is a legend which says that after the fall of the hated tyrant Tarquinius Superbus, the angry Romans threw his body into the Tiber. His body then settled onto the bottom where dirt and silt accumulated around it and eventually formed Tiber Island. Another version of the legend says that the people gathered up the wheat and grain of their despised ruler and threw it into the Tiber,