Cisternone

The remains of the so-called "Cisternone", at the intersection of Via Ardeatina and Via Tripoli are actually related to a cistern with several environments of the Roman imperial age. The structure is formed by a large rectangular room supported by three internal pillars in stone blocks and outside equipped with concrete buttresses typical of this kind of works. These reinforcements served to contain the thrust of the great mass of water that the cistern could contain. Above the extrados of the roofing vaults we can observe the presence of a “cocciopesto” floor relative to a second floor. The structure was not isolated but was inserted in a residential complex of which remain substantial remains along the edge of the cliff, under modern buildings. Among the recognizable structures is part of a thermal establishment that was probably served by the water preserve of the "Cisternone". In the eighteenth century the ruin, located in the gardens of Villa Corsini, was adapted to a rest and refreshment casino of a type in that period called "Coffee House".