When, in the mid-nineties, the Cremonini Group decided to embark on the project of creating a dining hub coupled with a modern cinema just a stone’s throw away from the Trevi Fountain, little did they imagine that beneath the foundations of that building purchased in 1985, the former Trevi cinema, lay the remains of an imperial-era building complex and one of the most fascinating examples of the level reached by hydraulic engineering in Roman times: the distribution cistern of the Vergine Aqueduct.

Construction began in September 1999, and from the initial stages, mechanical means revealed the presence of Roman-era structures, prompting the Archaeological Superintendence of Rome to immediately halt the work. However, thanks to the availability and enthusiasm of Cavalier Luigi Cremonini, founder and president of the Group, who promptly decided to fully fund the archaeological investigations, a excavation campaign was launched (led by Antonio Insalaco – now an archaeologist curator at the Capitoline Superintendence – under the scientific direction of Professor Claudio Mocchegiani Carpano) that would conclude after three intense years of activity. It was also upon his initiative that the original project was profoundly modified, leading to the creation of a veritable museum site, now known as “Vicus Caprarius – the City of Water“.

On April 6, 2004, the doors of the archaeological area opened for the first time to welcome the initial visitors. Twenty years later, we take pride in the fact that what has been achieved in this small corner of the Eternal City welcomes tourists, scholars, enthusiasts, and curious individuals from around the world daily, and is considered one of the first and most enduring examples in Italy of successful collaboration between the public and private sectors.

THE CITY OF WATER

Director: Giacomo Dotti

Writer: Lorenzo Dell’Aquila

Production: HN Production Srl

Camera/Drone Operator: Valerio Fea

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Cremonini Spa

Archivio Luce Cinecittà

ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE

Istituto Luce

Cinecittà SpA

Remo Marchesi

WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF

Elisa Carosi

Giulia Corsini

Antonio Insalaco

Lorenzo Dell’Aquila