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 ~ Roman Monographs ~ Aqueducts · part III · page 2b |
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AQUEDUCTS PARK
| Parco degli Aquedotti (Aqueducts Park) is a vast green area located in Rome's southern suburbs, which belongs to the even larger Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica (Appian Way Regional Park). It is crossed by the longest and best preserved stretches of the ancient aqueducts, and it also features some other historical remains. Therefore, it is an interesting place to visit alone, but it certainly makes an ideal conclusion for the tour suggested in page 2a. Those who are coming along via del Quadraro can turn right as soon as they come across via Alessandro Viviani: at the bottom of this street there is one of the many entrances to the park. On the right, at a short distance, the Acqua Felice keeps running straight towards the south, while further in the distance, some more remains of the Aqua Claudia can be seen almost parallel to the railway line. |
 the Acqua Felice (in the foreground) and the surviving parts of Aqua Claudia (at the back) run parallel through Aqueducts Park |
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 ruins of one of the halls of Villa delle Vignacce; the aqueducts can be seen in the background, not far from this spot |
Instead, in the main section of the park are the few remains of a large villa that date back to c.125-130. It belonged to a wealthy brick-maker called Quintus Servilius Pudens; his name was found on the seal used for officially stamping the bricks he made, which were also used for his own buildings. The two-storey villa developed over a large area and, besided the mansion itself, included a number of facilities, among which a large cistern that acted as a reservoir (which drew water directly from the Aqua Marcia, that ran nearby), private baths, operated from chambers set below the present ground level, still partly buried (in recent years, excavation campaigns have temporarily unearthed some of the lower structures, which have been investigated and then covered up again), a nymphaeum, and others. |
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The complex was restored probably around the 4th century, but it then fell into abandonment.
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 to reduce the weigth of domes, hollow spaces were left in the concrete by inserting broken pots or amphors (the one on the left is still in place) |
One of the buildings once had a round dome, now largely missing: on the ground below, some fragments show a particular technique used by Roman architects for reducing a dome's weight: large broken amphors or pots were inserted in the fresh concrete, so to create a hollow space inside. This is one of the earliest examples known (see also page 3). |  |
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 autumn colours by the Acqua Felice in the northernmost part of Aqueducts Park |
As the Acqua Felice keeps running towards the south, walking along its western side a few arches of the aqueduct appear blinded by large stone blocks: these are the first traces encountered in the park of the Aqua Marcia, the ancient aqueduct whose remains were completely recycled in the 1580s. Other traces, slightly further, are the scanty ruins adjoining the Acqua Felice almost at right angles, that once belonged to minor branches of the ancient Roman aqueduct, probably reaching private houses or villas, now no longer extant. On top of the Acqua Felice you will notice a few stones shaped as pyramids (right), that once indicated the openings from which the water tunnel could be reached for restoration and maintainance works. |
 a fragment of an Aqua Marcia branch suggests that the Roman aqueduct was taller than the Acqua Felice |
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The via Latina was the earliest among ancient Rome's main roads; it had been used by the Etruscans, in pre-Roman times (8th century BC), to reach the Campania region and colonize it, but the road might have already been there, opened by prehistoric inhabitants. It was then traced more regularly by the Romans in the 4th century BC, and later paved. It ran perfectly straight, almost parallel to the Appian way, down to Capua (see map of ROME'S ANCIENT SURROUNDINGS), where the two roads finally joined.
The other feature is a small water channel that once ran towards Rome, although now it has run dry and only the ditch where it flowed is still partly visible. The channel was created in 1122 by pope Callist II, whose purpose was to bring back to Rome the water once carried by the Aqua Tepula and Aqua Iulia, i.e. the two aqueducts that ran above the tunnel of the Aqua Marcia. All three of them had stopped working six centuries earlier, when the Goths had intentionally damaged them during the siege of Rome. The sources of the Aqua Tepula and the Aqua Iulia were located very close one to the other, so they could both follow the same direction: the artificial channel initially ran underground; then, for most of its length, it flowed in the open air, roughly following the via Latina.
By one of the few tiny bridges that still cross the dry ditch stand the remains of a 13th century watchtower, built over a cistern, whose vault is still visible.
 ↑ the remains of the watchtower (with a fragment of Aqua Claudia in the background) and the 13th century farmhouse → |
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About 400 metres (or yards) further south stands an old building called Casale di Roma Vecchia ("Old Rome's farmhouse"), named after a nearby archaeologic area (see further). Its central part dates back to the 13th century, with some later additions; it has been recently turned into a restaurant.
The Aqua Mariana once surrounded the building, and formed a small pool in front of it, which is now as dry as the channel.
 here the Acqua Felice (left) looks like a low wall, with a dome-shaped top |
Meanwhile, the Acqua Felice reaches this spot growing lower and lower, up to the point that its archways disappear, and a number of small metal ladders, set in recent times, allow to move from one side to the other of its top part. Therefore, the top of the aqueduct turns into a comfortable place where to sit and read a newspaper or simply bask in the sun (provided the weather is fine!). By the old farmhouse, the Acqua Felice abruptly changes shape, turning into a short but relatively well preserved stretch of Aqua Marcia. |
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Here the single parts of the ancient aqueduct can be observed quite clearly, although due to the height of the ground, the arches do not rest on pillars. Furthermore, the low archways are blinded by the concomitant presence of the Acqua Felice.
| An interesting detail is that the ancient aqueduct was built using three different varieties of tufa stone, in order to produce three different colours (see also part II): a pale grey or whitish type known as peperino was used for the voussoir (i.e. the rim) of the arch and for the string-courses that divide the attic into levels at which the tunnels ran; a yellowish type was used for the parts between the arches, and a reddish type forms the side wall of the tunnel (the two upper tunnels now missing likely had a similar composition). The three colours, combined with the shadow and light effect produced by the rough stones, similar to that of ashlar work, is very elegant, compared with the plain, monotonous structure of the Acqua Felice (built over seventeen centuries later!). |  the surviving arches of the Aqua Marcia |
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Of the three tunnels that ran through the top part, i.e. (from the bottom) the Aqua Marcia, the Aqua Tepula and the Aqua Iulia, only the first one is partly standing, yet broken in some parts. Despite being the lowest of the three, it ran higher than the tunnel of the Acqua Felice, which means that the Aqua Marcia water could be delivered at a greater distance from the main outlet; the two no longer extant tunnels were even higher, thus the water they carried could travel even farther.
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The ancient aqueduct abruptly turn again into the simple shape of the Acqua Felice, soon followed by another stretch of Aqua Marcia, of similar length yet less steady than the previous one, surrounded by an iron netting for safety reasons.
 the ancient paving of the via Latina at the bottom of the Acqua Mariana ditch |
Then once again the Acqua Felice appears; its height, already rather low, keeps constantly decreasing, until about 300 metres (or yards) further south the aqueduct definitively disappears, on a spot marked by one of the aforesaid pyramidal stones.
Nearby, the Acqua Mariana shortly follows the direction once marked by the via Latina: interestingly, a short stretch of ancient Roman paving has survived on the bottom of ditch, and since the channel turned dry it is now visible. |
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 a part of the well-preserved sequence of arches and pillars of the Aqua Claudia |
The real gem of the Aqueducts Park stands about 100 metres (or yards) west of the old farmhouse: along the boundary of a modern golf course stands the longest extant stretch of the Aqua Claudia aqueduct. The series of tall arches and massive pillars runs towards the south for 1.4 Km (almost 1 mile), a really awing view due to the mighty size of the structure, 17 metres (or 56 ft) tall. This is not the maximum height reached by the Aqua Claudia aqueduct, though, as the broken arches seen in the distance, looking towards the north, i.e. closer to the city, measure about 27.5 metres (90 ft). |
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| Although from the late 1st to the early 6th centuries the aqueduct underwent several restoration and reinforcement works, particularly brick additions to the arches and/or round the pillars (e.g. the first archway on the left in the picture above), its overall look is still quite genuine and in very good condition; only the top part of the attic, where the Anio Novus tunnel ran above the one of the Aqua Claudia, is now missing for most of its length. Despite the repairs, some signs of the leaks are also visible: the whitish stains along both sides of the aqueduct are calcium deposits, left in time by the water that perculated through the tufa block joints. calcium deposits along the attic and the arches → |
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The tour of the three aqueducts could come to an end here: crossing the park eastwards, the nearest subway station is about fifteen minutes away, in via Tuscolana (see map). However, those who would like to add a little extra to the tour, can follow via delle Capannelle (a path, rather than an actual street), which leads towards Capannelle subway station, and from there reach the archaeologic complex called Roma Vecchia located along via Tuscolana. From the long stretch of Aqua Claudia, via delle Capannelle can be reached turning left at about half of the aqueduct's length, where a path starts; on the left side of the path also an unusual pillar-shaped tomb can be seen, standing in the grass.
a beautiful sunset highlights some remains of the Aqua Claudia at the back of Parco degli Acquedotti
← go back to page 2a or keep following this tour in page 2c →
| ~~ page 1 ~~ AQUEDUCTS BY THE CITY WALLS |
~~ page 3 ~~ THE AQUA TRAIANA AND THE AQUA ALEXANDRINA |
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part I
part II
part IV
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