The archaeological area of the Vicus Caprarius, the Insula di San Vincenza and the Città dell’Acqua in Rome was dicovered by chance in 1999. It consists of two Roman insulae, both constructed during the reign of Emperor Nero.
Vicus Caprarius, Insula di San Vincenzo and Città dell’Acqua in Rome
Useful information
Address: Vicolo del Puttarello, 5/Via di San Vincenzo, 9 – Rome. Phone: +39 339 7986192. Opening times: Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 till 17:30, Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 till 19:00. Closed: Mondays, 15 August, 25 December. Ticket price: 3 Euros; over 65, students 18 to 25 of age, Roma Pass holders: 1,50 Euros; children 8 to 14 of age: 1 Euro; children younger than 8: Free. (Note that prices and times may be subject to change.)
History and description
In 1999, during renovation work on the no longer existing Cinema Trevi, excavations unearthed two buildings on the west side of what is thought to have been the Roman Vicus Caprarius.
Building on the north side
The building on the north side was a three floor insula, with shops on the ground floor. (An insula was a Roman apartment building.)
This building was probably constructed after the 64 AD fire. Having already been restored twice, around the middle of the 4th century it was transformed into a luxurious domus. The ground floor of the building was probably destroyed in 455, when the Vandals led by Genseric sacked the city.
Decorations that can still be seen included marble wall coverings and floor mosaics.
South side building
The building on the south side dates from the same period. In the beginning of the 2nd century, two of its large barrel vaulted rooms were transformed into a large water cistern, probably the castellum aquae of the Acquedotto Vergine. The cistern was used until 537, when the Visigoths destroyed the aqyeduct.
Newer constructions
Between the 11th and 12th centuries, the area’s ground level was raised 5 meters. Two separate residential units were constructed on the new level.