La Città dell'Acqua

La Città dell'Acqua (in English, "The City of Water") is an archaeological site just south of the Piazza di Trevi in Rome. The site was uncovered in 1999 during construction of the Cineteca Nazionale's Sala Cinema Alberto Sordi in the former Cinema Trevi.

Over a three-year period, archaeologists excavated 400 m² (4,300 square feet) of rubble that covered a 4th Century Roman mansion (built on the site of two insulae, or communal dwellings), and a section of an acqueduct--the Acqua Vergine--that connects to the nearby Fountain of Trevi. Thanks to a partnership between public authorities and Italy's Gruppo Cremonini, the ancient Vicus Caprarius has been restored and opened to the public.

What you'll see:

You enter La Città dell'Acqua at street level. A staircase leads to the downstairs lobby, where you pay a modest admission fee before taking another set of stairs to the underground ruins. There, below the Mondadori Trevi bookstore and the Sala Cinema Alberto Sordi, you'll find remnants of the 4th Century domus, water running from ancient Roman pipes, and items (such as bronze coins and amphorae, or terracotta flasks) that were uncovered during the excavation.