The Villa di Faonte is located between the Via delle Vigne Nuove and the Via Passo del Turchino in Rome. The structure used to be a private villa stretching from the Via Nomentana to the Via Salaria.
Visiting the Villa di Faonte Rome
Useful information
Address: Via delle Vigne Nuove. District: Zona Val Melaina. The excavations are not open to visitors.
History and description
The first documents mentioning the Villa di Faonte date back to the mid 19th century. They mention the presence of opus reticolatum brickwork and a cryptoporticus.
Opus reticolatum is a building technique developed by the Romans. It consisted of covering concrete constructions with a protection of square tuff stone tiles.
The cryptoportico later turned out to be a cistern.
In the 1960s excavations brought to light several underground halls and wells forming an entire system of cisterns. These were older than the one above ground.
It is not certain that the ruins really are those of the Villa di Faonte. One indication is its location, which was reported by the Roman historian Suetonius to be more or less in this location. A second one is the discovery of the funeral inscription of Claudia Egloge, wet nurse of Emperor Nero.