Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Una Grande Via Sotterranea, la “Strada Carrabile” di Villa Adriana

The Great Underground Road, the “Strada Carrabile” of Hadrian’s Villa. This article presents the main results of a study campaign (2007-2009) focusing on the underground road system of Hadrian’s Villa (Tivoli), also known as “Strada Carrabile” or “Driveway” that led to the so-called Great Trapezium. The extensive underground network is an ingenious system connecting the different quarters of the villa and is composed of underground passages for people on foot and in carts. The underground infrastructure hid the traffic of the slaves and helped to respect the emperor’s demands of order and tranquillity. Towards the far north of the Terrace of Tempe there is the entrance to an originally artificial cavity that has never been documented. On first inspection it has been identified as a hypothetical underground road far bigger than the passages already explored. The height cannot be determined yet, since the debris fills it almost to the vault. We have been able to explore only the first 60 metres from the entrance. The tunnel first runs north-east for about 50 metres and then turns towards the south.