©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia

Part 6 - Waterworks

Fountains, nymphaea and latrines.

Water played a very important role in the luxurious decoration of the Villa, with basins, fountains and nymphaea scattered in every corner, fed by a capillary system of channels and fistulas that has never been studied in detail.

A complete study of the water supply system of the Villa is still missing. 

The Villa had a constant trend of the slopes from south to north: therefore gravity was used to move water downhill, and supply large basins, fountains, thermal plants and nymphaea.
The waterworks were listed by De Franceschini [1991] in the room-by-room catalogue entries.

From where came the water? asked Jørgen Hansen, who tried to rebuild the water supply system of the Villa: it is not easy to give an answer.
Hansen believes that the water came from one of the great aqueducts that brought the water of the Aniene river to Rome, for example the Anio Vetus or the Anio Novus. The route has not yet been reconstructed with certainty.

The aqueduct connection started uphill in the area of via di Pomata, went down to the Rosati and Sonzogni properties and again up on the opposite side, towards the area of the Great Trapezium, where the ruins of an aqueduct can still be seen in the Colleoni property [FIG. 10].

There are several studies in progress: those by Jorgen Hansen [2015, 2016], the surveys of the Associazione Sotterranei Di Roma - Gruppo ricerche Speleo-Archeologiche with Marco Placidi, Danilo Ceirani, Manfred Donix and others.

Older studies by Aurigemma [1954. 1955, 1956] and Salza Prina Ricotti [1989, 1998, 2000].

©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia