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For the second year, from May 28 to June 6, 2010, “ROMA NASCOSTA. PERCORSI DI ARCHEOLOGIA SOTTERRANEA” (Hidden Rome. Visits to underground archaeological sites) offers the opportunity to visit more than 40 underground archaeological sites. Leading archaeologists and scholars will guide you and tell the story of these places. There will also be live music to animate some archaeological sites, as well as thematic workshops and artistic performances.

 “ROMA NASCOSTA” offers the opportunity to explore Rome in depth and in its complexities. For example, a visit to the inclined shaft (in collaboration with ACEA) and the remains (owned by the municipality) of the Aqua Virgo Aqueduct on via del Nazareno – it was completed in 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa to feed his baths and still supplies the Trevi Fountain – is an opportunity to partially retrace the path of the only ancient aqueduct still in use since the time of Augustus.

With the support of the Fondo Edifici di Culto, the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma and the Vicariato di Roma, it will be possible to trace the history prior to the construction of the churches of St. Martino ai Monti, St. Lorenzo in Lucina, St. Maria in Via Lata and others. Thanks to the FEC you can also visit the Case dei SS. Giovanni e Paolo which stand over a magnificent residential complex comprising several Roman houses of different periods.

The Sovraintendenza Comunale opens to the public its archaeological heritage and in particular the Roman insula under  San Paolo alla Regola, a well-preserved example of the city’s development as shown by the stores of the Domitian age, the insula above, with its different construction phases, the twelfth-century Tower house and the sixteenth century Palazzo Specchi, the Mithraeum at Circus Maximus, significant evidence of the place of worship dedicated to a foreign god related to the military world, the Cisterna delle Sette Sale, a magnificent example of a water reservoir, with its nine rooms which contained millions of litres of water, fed the Baths of Trajan on the Oppius Hill, the Auditorium of Maecenas, part of a urban villa of which a large apsidal hall with frescoes of the I centuryAD is preserved, the Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas, interesting example of a well  preserved storage of cinerary urns, the Imperial Fora, an extraordinary example of Roman architecture  between Caesar and Trajan.

The Holy See will make accessible the excavations under the Basilica of St. John Lateran, whereas the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major opens its underground rooms. The Pontifical Commission For Sacred Archaeology opens the least known areas of the Catacombs of Priscilla, of Commodilla and of Vigna Chiaraviglio. Through the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma you can visit many sites of great historical and artistic interest, such as the tomb of Caius Cestius Epulo, built about 18 BC–12 BC  and intended as a commemoration of the annexation of Egypt, the Circular Temple and the Rectangular Temple, three Latin tombs (the tombs of the Barberini, the Pancrazi and the Valeri), the remains of the Horti of Domitia Lucilla and, thanks to the Alda Fendi Foundation, you will have the opportunity to visit the Basilica Ulpia.

The 2010 edition sees the collaboration between prestigious institutions  such as the Comune di Roma, Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali e della Comunicazione - Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali, the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma, the Vatican Museums, the Fondo Edifici di Culto, the Vicariatate of Rome, Acea and the Pontifical Commission For Sacred Archaeology. The organization is managed by Zètema Progetto Cultura.

The event, unique for its duration and for the number of monuments open simultaneously, offers the chance to see usually inaccessible sites at the reasonable price of 5 euros (booking required). Find all information and details about the visits and how to make a reservation at the (+39) 060608 or www.comune.roma.it, www.zetema.it.