![]() 'Underground Rome is a final frontier,' said Riccardo Paolucci, another explorer, as he examined a viaduct in a valley near Vicovaro that carried the water further towards the city. ![]() The Acqua Vergine runs for just over 12 miles and ends up in the Trevi Fountain, photographed every day by crowds of tourists. Only one of the aqueducts is still operational today - the Acqua Vergine - which can be accessed in various hidden locations near Rome including a doorway near the Villa Medici that leads down a spiral staircase to the water. The Acqua Claudia runs 54 miles from the Simbruini Mountains to the heart of Rome and supplied 2,200 litres of water a second. Their strategic significance is underlined by the fact that Rome had a special magistrate to oversee their maintenance and that the Visigoths cut them off when they were laying siege to the city. The ancient waterways were true feats of engineering, which relied solely on gravity to ensure a flow of water from Germany to North Africa - across what was once the Roman Empire. ![]() Stunning: The Acqua Claudia runs 54 miles from the Simbruini Mountains to the heart of Rome and supplied 2,200 litres of water a second ![]()
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