L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano E very time I read about Rome's u n d e r g r o u n d a r c h e o l o g i c a l world, I always think about what Romans often say: "Wherever you dig in the city, you'll find something interesting." It's true: there's a whole city under the city, in Rome: catacombs, ancient homes and streets that reach into the bowels of the Earth, or so it seems to us, dwellers of t h e a b o v e - g r o u n d w o r l d . Rome is like a layered cake made with history and time, instead of vanilla sponge. T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f i t s archaeological underground is well known, even among t h e m o s t d i s t r a c t e d o f tourists - who don't know about the catacombs - but there are some areas that mass tourism may have not quite discovered yet. One of t h e m l i e s h i d d e n u n d e r - neath a symbol of our capi- t a l a n d o f L a D o l c e V i t a , u n d e r t h e p l a c e v i s i t o r s always spend at least a few minutes at, just the time to toss a coin into its waters, in the hope to come back soon t o t h e C i t t à E t e r n a : y e s , t h e r e i s a w h o l e u n d e r - ground world under the Trevi fountain. W i t h m o r e t h a n 2 0 0 0 fountains, there is no won- der that Rome is also known is the city of water, and the fontana di Trevi is perhaps the most recognizable of all w a t e r m o n u m e n t s o f t h e capital: 26 meters high and 49 in width, it is the heart of p i a z z a b e a r i n g t h e s a m e name. The baroque marvel we can admire today was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732, but there has always been a fountain there, prob- ably since 19 years before the birth of Christ. There is m a g i c i n t h a t w a t e r : w e throw coins in it while mak- ing a wish and somehow, even against our best judge- m e n t , w e b e l i e v e t h e fontana will make it come true: otherwise, how'd you e x p l a i n t h e a l m o s t 3 0 0 0 e u r o ( a r o u n d 3 4 7 0 U S D ) gathered from its bottom every day? What many don't know, however, is that the magic goes underground, where a whole world dating back to the times of Emperor Nero h i d e s . T h e V i c u s C a p r a r i u s i s a 2 0 0 0 s q u a r e m e t e r s a r e a , a l s o known today as the Città dell'Acqua, or the City of Water, because of the pres- ence of a fresh-water source a l r e a d y k n o w n b y t h e Ancient Romans. But while our ancestors kept it con- t a i n e d a n d c o n t r o l l e d , i t t o d a y r u n s f r e e o v e r t h e ground, forming a crystal clear, lively layer over the archaeological area's floors. Basically, there is a chunk of ancient Rome under the Trevi fountain and there, water is queen. The Vicus Caprarius is home to many a r c h a e o l o g i c a l w o n d e r s . There is, for instance, an insula -the Roman equiva- lent of a block of flats - dat- ing back to Nero's times, more precisely, to the years straight after the Great Fire o f 6 4 A D , w h e n t h e Emperor had organized and reconstructed part of the city, the nova urbs or "new city," following stricter safe- ty measures. This is quite interesting: basically, this insula is living memory of the fact Nero did good stuff f o r R o m e , d e s p i t e b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d o n e o f t h e biggest villains in ancient history. Nearby we find a reser- voir once used to distribute t h e w a t e r s o f t h e A q u a Virgo to the whole city. It was discovered - much like the rest of the site - during e x c a v a t i o n s c a r r i e d o u t between 1999 and 2001, and it was identified as one of Rome's 18 castella (reser- voirs) where water for the city was collected to be dis- t r i b u t e d ; w e k n o w a b o u t these structures thanks to t h e w o r k D e A q u a e d u c t u U r b i s R o m a e , w r i t t e n b y Sextus Iulius Frontinus. I n c i d e n t a l l y , t h e A q u a Virgo aqueduct is the sole, a n c i e n t R o m a n a q u e d u c t still functioning today: it supplies the Trevi fountain and you can even see parts of above ground, in Via del T r i t o n e a n d V i a d e l Nazareno. There are other interest- ing features to explore, in t h e C i t t à d e l l ' A c q u a . F o r instance, you can also visit a s m a l l m u s e u m , t h e a n t i - quarium, where a plethora of findings from the site are collected, including statues, polychromatic marbles, the famous spatheia, amphorae o f A f r i c a n o r i g i n u s e d t o transport olive oil, and some 8 0 0 c o i n s f r o m a l l a g e s , through which the life and history of the area can be reconstructed. A s w e s a i d e a r l i e r , i n Rome it's all about layers. Roman buildings and ruins were built upon in the early Middle Ages and then, later, in the Renaissance, all the w a y u p t o t o d a y ' s s t r e e t level, but what was there before didn't necessarily go lost: in the Città dell'Acqua w e c a n s e e p a r t s o f t h e house walls built, through the centuries, above the old Roman ones, a visible, tan- gible sign of centuries pass- ing. If you would like to visit the Vicus Caprarius and its historical and archaeological wonders, tours are available - a l s o i n E n g l i s h - f r o m T u e s d a y t o S u n d a y f o r groups, single visitors and schools. You can get more information and book on the Vicus Caprarius's webpage, https://www.vicuscaprar- ius.com/en/visits/. A n d s o , n e x t t i m e y o u t o s s t h a t c o i n i n t o t h e waters of the Trevi fountain, think about the majestic, h i d d e n w o r l d t h a t l i e s underneath, a sign of the greatness of Rome and of the reason why we call it eternal. FRANCESCA BEZZONE The hidden world under the Trevi fountain The Vicus Caprarius is an extensive archaeological site underneath the Trevi Fountain, in Rome (Kirk Fisher/Shutterstock) LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

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