Aqua Virgo Park

Located in the Pietralata neighborhood in the northeast quadrant of the city, the park owes its name to the oldest Roman aqueduct still in operation, which supplies important monuments such as the Barcaccia Fountain and the Trevi Fountain.

Restored in the Renaissance as Acqua Vergine, the aqueduct had been built in the first century B.C. It ran mostly underground, ending with a monumental terminal display fountain in the Baths of Agrippa. In the park, close to the course of the Aniene (one of the tributaries of the Tiber) and at the Marranella ditch, we can see one of the few above-ground sections (about 300 meters long) of this powerful infrastructure.

The original structure was probably built with a concrete work masonry lined with small tuff blocks (tufelli), but numerous ancient and modern maintenance works have transformed the ancient aqueduct, which now appears as a continuous solid wall running over the Marranella ditch. Its height fluctuates between 8 and 13 meters, a difference in height that keeps the water flowing and accommodates the unevenness of the terrain.

In the lower section of the southern front of the conduit, it is still possible to see the ancient masonry: parts of the original structure in tuff reticulated work on arches, probably closed in the late imperial period to consolidate and reinforce the infrastructure. To later restorations belong the brick arches and curtain walls in mixed opera of various building materials. Instead, the small hydrometer on the northern front dates from the late 19th century, as indicated by the plaque on its access door: S.P.Q.R. ACQUA VERGINE IDROMETRO ANNO MDCCCLXVII.