What is there
to see?

Not far from the Trevi Fountain, fascinating discoveries were made during renovation work on a former cinema in 1999 and 2001! Archaeologists came across an insola (ancient dwelling house), a cistern and many coins, vases and jars!

Today we can pay a visit to this “accidental” find! To do so, however, you have to climb down into the depths, into a cool, damp “cave”. The building complex still visible down here dates from the time of Emperor Nero (55 – 68 AD). Even though not much remains of it apart from a few walls and a few steps, you still get a small insight into the city structure of antiquity. The insola was in fact divided up so that several parties could live in it on different floors. It was rebuilt in the 2nd century and then extended as a domus in the 4th century. The ruins show wonderfully that we live in a similar way today, and also make clear how much of the former world power probably still lies hidden!

The underground excavation site is called the “City of Water”. Maintaining the name, you can not only hear the water splashing down here, but also see it flowing. Why? Because a cistern (water reservoir) for the Virga aqueduct is also hidden here. This aqueduct still feeds the Trevi Fountain and the Barcaccia Fountain near the Spanish Steps.

The excavation site is small, very small, but it has a lot to offer. If you take your time, you will not only see over 800 coins behind the display cases, but also amphorae and vases from the various periods. Everything speaks for itself and shows how advanced people lived back then. During time, plates, containers, or cutlery from the 14th-17th centuries have also accumulated here.

It’s worth a visit! Not because the “Vicus Caprarius – the City of Water” is so secret, but because it tells a story that can be found all over Rome. Because this small excavation site combines finds that are otherwise scattered throughout the city:

First, an aqueduct, which have been distributing water above ground in Rome for up to 100 km since 312 BC. The Insolae, i.e. the dwellings of antiquity, which can also be discovered between the Vittoriano and the Ara Coeli Staircase. And thirdly, amphorae, which have left their mark above all on the Testaccio district, where they literally lie in heaps.

So immerse yourself in the city of water and get to know a Rome that may have been hidden from you until now!