Under the Trevi District in 45 Minutes, Ending in Gelato

Nine metres below the streets around the Trevi Fountain there is a block of imperial Rome that nobody knew about until the old Cinema Trevi was gutted for renovation. This walk goes down into it for 45 minutes and comes back up for an ice cream. The site is called Vicus Caprarius, and what makes it worth the stairs is that it is still wet. The Aqua Virgo aqueduct runs through here, and the same water that feeds the fountain above filters through the ancient masonry and fills the cisterns of the Roman house. A guide is genuinely useful in a place like this, because without one the rooms read as brickwork. Among the finds on display is a marble head identified as Alexander Helios, pulled out of the rubble during the excavation. The layers you walk through record the aqueduct going in, Nero's fire, Alaric's sack and the Gothic siege, in that order. Afterwards, a gelato at one of the historic ice cream shops by the fountain. The walk starts underground and ends at a counter, which is a sensible order for a hot afternoon.