Mausoleum La Celsa

The Mausoleum known as "La Celsa" stands atop the Saxa Rubra cliff, along the via Flaminia. The monument consists of an upper earthen mound—known as the Celsa tomb—scenically connected to an exedra and a cistern, perhaps intended to house a monumental fountain (nymphaeum). The mausoleum, a cylindrical drum on a parallelepiped base, is part of a much larger complex that extended from the Saxa Rubra hill to the Tiber. During the Middle Ages, the mausoleum was converted into a fortress, along with Castel Giubileo, to guard the Tiber Valley just outside Rome.

A little further on is a group of rock tombs dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, with remains of wall decorations, burial niches, and small niches for the deposit of cinerary urns (columbariums), attributed to servants or freedmen of the Ostoria family, to whom the large mausoleum may belong. Further on, a massive kiln dump was discovered containing poorly fired ceramics dating back to the first two centuries of the empire, originating from an artisanal factory active near the Tiber. The finds excavated in the archaeological area are inside the Casale Malborghetto Museum.

The mausoleum is currently closed to the public for security reasons.

Photo credits: official website of the Special Superintendency of Rome