Nine Metres Under Trevi: The Domus and Its 800 Coins

In 1999 the basement of a cinema was being cleared for renovation and the work stopped: nine metres down there was an imperial Roman house, a stretch of street and a tank belonging to the Aqua Virgo aqueduct. The site is now open, and this 45-minute guided visit covers all three sections of it. What was pulled out of the ground is the part worth coming for, and it is displayed where it was found. Polychrome marble facings from the walls of the house. A hoard of 800 coins. Spatheia, the tall narrow African amphorae used to ship oil, which tell you where this household's supplies came from. And a marble head identified as Alexander Helios, the son of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The name City of Water is not decorative. The tank is connected to the Aqua Virgo, the aqueduct commissioned under Augustus, and the water still moves through it. Standing next to a working piece of Roman infrastructure is a different experience from looking at a dry ruin, and the guide will explain why it never stopped functioning. Upstairs, the Trevi Fountain, and the coin if you want one.