Archaeological Wonders of the Park of Rome GC
The area of the Veio Park where the path of the Park of Rome Golf Club, exactly between the Via Flaminia, Via Grottarossa and the Via dei Due Ponti, starting from the late Republican age it became the preferred area, like the rest of the areas to the right of the Tiber River, for the construction of residential settlements enriched by imposing villas.
The plateau between the ditches of Crescenza and Valchetta, has returned important finds such as the well-known republican villa on Monte delle Grotte, still visible today along the Via Flaminia. Nothing was known of the central area of the plateau, where a considerable number of other Roman villas were discovered which are particularly close to each other. The level of these settlements was very high, a fact testified by the findings of decorations of walls and floors of remarkable quality, of thermal installations but also of production plants as evidenced by the presence of Doliarium and equipment for viticulture.
Probably common to all settlements is also an aqueduct along the southern edge of the plateau, of which one has been found pool of calm that can be admired between holes 13 and 14, a deep rectangular basin of a Roman aqueduct that served some villas found on this side of the plateau. The calm tank is a hypogean reservoir structure that served to slow down the flow of water in an underground section of the aqueduct, as demonstrated by two narrow arched passages in the body of the tank which must originally have been covered by a barrel vault.
These two openings lead into tunnels dug into the tuff which correspond respectively to the inlet duct (north gallery) and the water outlet duct (east gallery). The jet had to enter forcefully from the north opening and then continue with a helical pattern, counterclockwise, inside the basin. Only a smaller quantity of water progressively came out of the opening on the east wall.
A tank to slow down the flow of water is justified by the significant change in slope and direction made by the east conduit with respect to the inlet tunnel.
Between the green of hole 5 and the tee of hole 6 is visible an ancient tuff quarry in which the different stages of processing can be recognized and different sectors delimited by regular cuts and steps dug into the tuff are recognizable.
Probably the tuff extracted from the quarry, suddenly abandoned for unknown reasons leaving semi-finished blocks, was widely used for the nearby republican villa on Monte delle Grotte where a substantial building phase is attested consisting of walls in opus quadratum, made with blocks of tuff.
The discovery of a quarry of this material on the Grottarossa plateau is important because it confirms how this tuff was also extracted on the right bank of the river where its presence was found in superficial banks in the Prima Porta area and at the beginning of the Via Tiberina.
Perfectly nestled in a crown of umbrella pines is a brick mausoleum located on a hill overlooking the valley of the Bishop and it must also have been visible from the Via Flaminia. It can be dated to the end of the XNUMXnd, beginning of the XNUMXrd century AD. C. and is of the "temple" type composed of an underground chamber with a rectangular plan covered by a cross vault.
The room is characterized by three pillars leaning against the walls, perhaps built for static reasons, which are linked with small slightly rampant arches to a central pillar which occupies a good part of the space inside the room. Two floors rose above the chamber but it is not easy to reconstruct the elevation. Several marble finds found in the surrounding area suggest that the small funerary building was of the type with a high plinth, widespread especially from the XNUMXnd-XNUMXrd century AD, which can be connected with the "temple" sepulchres in shaped bricks.
The mausoleum must have belonged to the owners of the nearby villa and was also frequented in the post-ancient age with no longer a sepulchral use but perhaps as a watchtower.
