Por primera vez, pero sólo durante una semana, podrán visitarse 30 puntos subterráneos con importantes restos arqueológicos.
Entre ellos las cisternas del acueducto "Aqua Virgo" construidas por Marco Agripa, y que suministran, aún hoy en día, agua a las fuentes de la ciudad.
O las excavaciones del mitreo de Santa Prisca, que evidenciaron la existencia de grandes edificaciones dedicadas a almacenes, y enclavado en una zona en la que se atestigua la presencia de otros cultos orientales.

INFORMACION DEL PROGRAMA COMPLETO:
25 - 31 Maggio 2009
Roma Nascosta
Una settimana di visite guidate e conferenze sui tesori archeologici di Roma.
Percorsi di archeologia sotterranea

Descrizione:
Una settimana di visite guidate e conferenze sui tesori archeologici di Roma.

Dal 25 al 31 maggio saranno vistabili 30 siti di grande pregio storico, alcuni mai aperti al pubblico, per un totale di oltre 150 visite, affiancate da un ciclo di conferenze di approfondimento.

“Roma Nascosta” è una iniziativa voluta ideata e realizzata dal Comune di Roma, in collaborazione con i Musei Vaticani, la Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra, la Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma, il Fondo Edifici di Culto del Ministero dell’Interno, Acea e la Fondazione Alda Fendi.



From The Times
May 23, 2009

Rome opens up underground wonders of the ancient world to tourists
A 2nd century guardroom is revealed. Rome is to open dozens of previously unseen sites of interest
Richard Owen in Rome

Visitors to Rome will soon be able to discover a world of ancient treasures beneath their feet when the city opens dozens of previously unseen underground sites to the public.

They include the Ludus Magnus, the barracks beneath the Colosseum where gladiators assembled before entering the great arena to meet their fate; the well-preserved necropolis of Santa Rosa at the Vatican, with tombs from the 1st to the 5th centuries, and pagan temples.

Guided tours through the sites begin on Monday. Gianni Alemanno, the Mayor of Rome, said he hoped that the experiment would be repeated next year and that in future some of the sites would remain open throughout the summer. “There is a lot of unknown Rome to explore, not just the best-known sights,” he said.

The 30 underground marvels are rarely seen by tourists, or residents. “Hidden Rome is in front of everyone’s eyes but nobody notices it,” said Umberto Broccoli, the superintendent of cultural heritage in Rome. “A large part of Rome’s history lies underground.”

He singled out the auditorium of Maecenas, the wealthy close adviser to the Emperor Augustus, whose encouragement of poets and painters in 1st century Imperial Rome made his name a byword for patronage of the arts.

The ruins of his frescoed theatre for readings and performances, now below ground and protected by a modern roof, are tucked away in a small urban square that is all that remains of his once vast and magnificent horti, or gardens, on the Esquiline Hill.

Few visitors are aware that a 2,000-year-old underground aqueduct, the Acqua Virgo — originally built to supply the Baths of Agrippa near the Pantheon in 19BC and still used to bring water to the city — lies beneath the Renaissance-era Villa Medici, now the French Academy, and ends in the Baroque stone fantasy of the Trevi Fountain.

Tourists can also explore the frescoed 2nd century Temple of Mithras, the pagan cult, beneath the 17th Century Palazzo Barberini, which houses one of Rome’s foremost art collections.

Francesco Marcolini, the head of Zetema, the cultural foundation in charge of the project, said that next year 15 more underground sites would be added, including a Jewish necropolis in the grounds of Villa Torlonia, formerly the Rome residence of Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator.