Via Appia Antica

Via Appia Pignatelli

Via Gamiana

Via Tuscolana

Ferrovia

Ferrovia

Via Appia Nuova

Fiume Almone

Via

Anni

a Re

gilia

Via

Appi

o Cl

audi

o

Via Capannelle

Via di Roma Vecchia

Via d

el Qu

adra

ro

Via Dem

etriade

Circon

. Tusco

lana

Via di Torre

Spaccata

MPorta Furba

M Arco di Travertino

MNumidio Quadraro

MLucio Sestio

MSubaugusta

MCinecittà

MGiulio Agricola

acquedottofeLIce

acquedottocLaudIo

acquedottoacqua marcIa

torre del fiscale

villa deisettebassi

casale roma vecchio

villa dellevignacce

tombe Latine

casale del sellaretto

iPunto InformatIvo

Tor Fiscale

Via Lemonia

PedestrIantraILs

entrances

aPPIa antIcaregIonaL Park

THE SEVENAQUEDUCTS

AND TOR FISCALE

PARCO REGIONALEDELL’APPIA ANTICASede del ParcoVia Appia Antica 42, tel 065126314www.parcoappiaantica.it

THE SEVENAQUEDUCTS AREAThe areas of the Seven Aqueducts and Tor Fiscale are free and accessible every day. The information point and bicyclerenting are open on Sundays only.

www.parcoappiaantica.it In the beginning, tablewater was collected in anetwork of undergroundpassages, while surfacewater was collected inlarge brick basins.Population growth and thelarger quantity of waterneeded to provide withwater fountains andthermal baths in thepatricians’ villas, made itnecessary to exploitsources far away from thecity and to build largeaqueducts, whose projectshad obviously to cope withthe land’s varying altitudeto keep the right pipelines’angle. So the path couldrun underground orsometimes be in open air,in trenches dug at landlevel or in elevatedstructures, such as those ofthe Aquedotto Caludio.Six of the ancient Rome’seleven aqueducts run inthe Park’s area: AnioVetus, Marcia, Tepula,Julia, Anio Novus. Two ofthem, Tepula and Julia,took their waters fromsources in the Colli Albani,while the others from thehigh path of the Anieneriver or from theSimbruini and Prenestinimountains’ sources.Rome’s decadence marksthe highest developmentpoint of its waterworkssystem; the Baths’decadence, the population

decrease and the city’sadministrative inefficiency,made reparation andmaintenance worksbecome rare and partial.Large Parts fell down andsprouting water createdmany swampy areas inRoman countryside, butthe great arches that madeRome’s landscape famousstood the test of time andof man. The use of theaqueducts was limited tothose used in churches ortemples. Some ditcheswere dug to collect water,but basically Romans usedfor over 1000 years theTevere’s unhealthy waters.Only at the end of 16thcentury Romans saw aworking aqueduct again,thanks to Sixtus V, calledby the citizens “er papatosto” (the tough Pope)for his energy.After the historicminimum in the MiddleAges (17.000 people),Rome’s population startedto grow back, so thebuilding of the AcquedottoFelice (named after thePope’s original name) wasstarted: completed in lessthan 5 years it is 28.7 kmlong, 8 of which elevated.The area surrounding theaqueduct was left in thatstate of abandonment thatappealed to many artistsand tourists in thefollowing centuries.

For 850 years since the building of the firstaqueduct until the interruption caused by

the Goth’s invasion of Rome in 537a.D., thecity was provided with a progressivelyimproved waterworks system, which was nomatch, for its abundance and quality, for anyother city in the world.

i Punto InformatIvoVia Lemonia

PARCO REGIONALEDELL’APPIA ANTICA

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Atrue crossroad ofRome’s waterworks

network, it takes itsname from theimpressive remains ofRome’s famousaqueducts system. Six ofthe ancient city’s elevenaqueducts ran acrossthis area, forming asystem that allowed,during the city’s peakdevelopment period, awater-flow of 13 m3 persecond. To all of this wemust add theAcquedotto Felice, builtby the Popes during theRenaissance and stillused today for

irrigation. Along withstreet and sewers, themaking of aqueductswas carefully followed,both to meet citizen’shygienic needs and toaffirm the Empire’sculture: the aqueductshad to stand up to thestandards of “firmitas,venustas, utilitas”, i. e.solidity, beauty andusefulness. A large partof the pipes cannot beseen, either because theyrun underground, orbecause sometimes morerecent structures havebeen built over the olderones, as the AcquedottoFelice, built on thecourse of the Marcio.The high arches of theAcquedotto Claudio,along with the Felice’s

Via Appia Antica Via Appia Nuova

Via Ardeatina

G .R .A .

Via C.

Colom

bo

Via Anagnina

Via Tuscolana

Porta S. Sebastiano

Via Casilina

Via Prenestina

lower ones, still riseabove the area andtogether with secularpines and remains ofancient suburban villassuch as the Vignacceand the Sette Bassi,make the whole area avery scenic place.

SEDE DEL PARCO

AREA DEGLIACQUEDOTTI

during AcquedottoFelice’s building in 1585.

Aqua Tepula. Placed overthe Acquedotto Marcio itwas built by the consulsCepio and Longinus in125b.C. Its waters,coming from the ColliAlbani volcanic area,were warm.

Aqua Julia. Built by consulAgrippa in 33b.C. andnamed after Caius JuliusCaesar Ottavianus, soonto become emperorAugustus, it carriedwater coming from theSquarciarelli sources,near Grottaferrata, andmerged it with watercoming from the Tepulato improve its quality.

Felice. It was built by thePope Sixtus V between1585 and 1590 toprovide with waterRome’s hilly parts, whichhad no aqueducts afterthe decadence ofwaterworks in theMiddle Ages. Its watercame from the PantanoBorghese sources alongthe Prenestina way andwent as far as theFontana del Mosè inLargo Santa Susanna.The aqueduct’s pipelineleaves the undergroundnear the Roma Vecchiafarmhouse and is laidover the AcquedottoMarcio, using itsstructure. Its buildingcaused in some placesthe destruction of theolder Marcio, Tepula andJulia aqueducts.

On the first of the twopoints where the archesof the aqueducts ofClaudius and Marciusintersected, takingadvantage of its raisedheight, a tower waserected in the XIIIcentury, nowadaysknown as the Torre del Fiscale, from thename of its owner in theXVII century, FilippoFoppi, who was thepontifical treasurer, thatis the “revenue officer”.The tower, about thirtymetres in height, is builtin the typical masonrytechnique of the XIIIcentury out of blocks oftufa; it is quadrangularin shape, with littlerectangular windowswith marble framing. It was used as awatchtower, and was thecentral element of asmall castle whichbelonged to theAnnibaldi family whocontrolled the ViaLatina in the area ofthe “Campo Barbarico”.

THE SEVENAQUEDUCTSEnclosed by the districts of

Cinecittà and Quarto Miglio,between the two important arterieswhich are the Appia Nuova andthe Tuscolana, crossed by the lay-out of the ancient Via Latina, thearea of the Aqueducts up to theTorre del Fiscale represents theremnant of a stretch of Romancountryside which once joined theAlban Hills to the gates of the city.

Anio Vetus. It is the Park’smost ancient aqueduct,the first to be builtfollowing modern ideasthat allowed to carrywater from areas as faras the valley of theAniene River. Builtbetween 272 and269b.C. thanks to partof Pyrrhus’ spoils of war,it features a 64 km long(mostly underground)meandering path.

Claudio and Anio Novus.Started by Caligula in38a.D. and finished byhis successor Claudius in52a.D. , they cross thePark together in thesame arhced structure.Both took their waterform the basin of thevalley of the AnieneRiver. At Via Latina’s7th mile, near toCapannelle, the AnioNovus’ path ran togetherwith Acqua Claudia’spipe, and they bothemerged from theground first on acontinuous structureand then on a longseries of arches

characteristic of this partof the Romancountryside. Just thinkthat the aqueduct’shighest point is 28meters high, like a 9-floor building. Plinius,remarking the structure’smagnificence and thearches’ height thatsupplied every part ofthe city, stated thatnothing was worthier ofadmiration in the wholeworld.

Acqua Marcia. Thisaqueduct, started bypraetor Quinto Marcio in44b.C. and completed inabout two years,conveyed water comingfrom the sources on theVia Valeria to theCapitol. Its 91 km longpipeline startedunderground from thesources and sprouted atthe so called “RomaVecchia” farmhouse,where it mingled withthe Aqua Tepula andAqua Julia’s pipelines(spechi). The three“spechi” can still be seenin their bricks-reinforcedopus reticolatum. Onlysmall arches near to theRoma Vecchiafarmhouse and in otherspots close to the citycan still be seen. Therest was destroyed

ROMA

Frascati

Via Appia Antica

Via Latina

Via Casilina

Via Prenestina

Fiume Aniene

Via Nomentana

Fium

e Te

vere

Zagarolo

GericomioVilla Adriana

San Polo

TivoliCastel Madama

Palestrina

Gallicano

Rocca di Papa

Via Tiburtina Varebia

Saracinesco

Fiume Aniene

THE APPIA ANTICAREGIONAL PARKIt is a protected area establi-shed in 1988 by a regionallaw. The area includes thevast portion of the AgroRomano crossed by the first16 km of the ancient consularway (from Porta SanSebastiano to the AppiaNuova crossing atFrattocchie); the area of theCaffarella Valley; thearchaeological complex of Via Latina tombs; the area close to the Tuscolanaway in which houses manyremains of the importantrepublican and imperial age aqueducts.

AQUEDUCTS DATE OV WATER SOURCES FLOWCONSTRUCTION (mc al g.)

ANIO NOVUS 47-52 d.C. Aniene (Subiaco) 190.000ANIO VETUS 272-269 a.C. Aniene (Vicovaro) 180.000MARCIA 144-140 a.C. Aniene (Arsoli) 190.000CLAUDIA 38-52 d.C. Aniene (Arsoli) 185.000TEPULA 125 a.C. Colli Albani 16.000JULIA 33 a.C. Colli Albani 50.000

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