Parco archeologico del Celio

The park occupies the northwestern sector of the Caelian hill, in a green area overlooking the Colosseum that preserves important archaeological evidence, including the remains of the temple of Divus Claudius, and is the result of transformations that have affected it over time, from the 16th century (when the Cornovaglia family bought the area, turning it into a vineyard) to the Napoleonic era, when the French occupying the city dumped here the huge amount of earth from excavations at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

In 1835 Pope Gregory XVI decided to transform into a “public promenade” the garden, at the time known as Orto Botanico, which had developed on the large artificial terrace formed by the landfill. The task of rearranging and enlarging the park was entrusted to architect Gaspare Salvi, who laid out a number of avenues in the area concerned and constructed a building (the Casina del Salvi), inspired by Valadier’s “coffee-house” on the Pincio, to serve as a refreshment point. In 1847, both the Casina del Salvi and the park became part of Rome’s municipal heritage by the Motu Proprio of Pius IX.

Between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, two other buildings were constructed in the park: in the northern part, the Ex Antiquarium Comunale, established as the Magazzino Archeologico Comunale in 1884 and then becoming a museum from 1929 until 1939 (when it was closed due to structural problems); and, to the south, the Ex Palestra della Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, completed in 1929. Today the park is divided into two large areas by Viale del Parco del Celio, where the tram line built after World War II passes.

The opening of the archaeological park to the public was made possible by the work carried out under the scientific direction of the Capitoline Superintendence for Cultural Heritage of Roma Capitale as part of the project to enhance the entire area of the Caelian, which in turn is part of the redevelopment program of the Centro Archeologico Monumentale (CArMe) commissioned by Roma Capitale. The garden, which can be entered free of charge, houses a multitude of archaeological, architectural and epigraphic artefacts found during the large excavations carried out at the end of the 19th century for the construction of new quarters and infrastructures, and previously kept in the former Antiquarium Comunale.

The materials are organised by thematic areas and offer visitors the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of ancient Rome in everyday life: from the funerary sphere to architectural taste and construction techniques, from the sense of the divine to the contrast between public and private buildings (with large fragments from public buildings and bases of honorary statues) and the administrative presence of Rome in the territory (with boundary stones marking the Tiber riverbed or the areas pertaining to aqueducts). Finally, a nucleus of artefacts introduces the theme of reuse and rework, a phenomenon that runs through the entire architectural history of the city.

Inside the park, the new Museo della Forma Urbis set up in the building of the Ex Palestra della Gioventù Italiana del Littorio houses fragments of the famous Forma Urbis Romae, the gigantic marble plan of ancient Rome engraved between 203 and 211 A.D. under Emperor Septimius Severus. The next stages of the redevelopment project of the area include, in addition to the complete display of the finds, the opening of the Casina del Salvi to the public, the restoration of the former Antiquarium Comunale and the creation of a New Archaeological Walk, along Via di San Gregorio, which will connect the Caelian Park with the Monumental Archaeological Centre.