Our visit will begin at the lower level of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina, constructed originally in the IV-V century AD above the remains of the home of the Roman matron Lucina. This first church was damaged by floods and plundering by the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard so a second basilica was built over the first one at the beginning of the Xll century and later refurbished in the XVl – XVll and XlX centuries.
In the 1980s during renovations at the lower level, mosaic floors from the second century AD were discovered, as well as a third century AD insula, a block of flats on several floors. Furthermore, at the end of the last century, a baptismal font four metres in diameter and a second similar basin were found under a side chapel in the right nave.
On leaving the church we will walk past piazza Montecitorio and admire the fine obelisk formerly indicator in the sun dial built by the Emperor Augustus and continue on to the Trevi Fountain. There, underneath the former Trevi cinema recent excavations (1998-2001) have yielded important discoveries, including a domus from the age of Nero (64-68 AD) and one of the water castles of the Virgin Water acqueduct which still today supplies the Trevi Fountain.
Last but not least we will head for the famous Rinascente department store, not to shop for luxury goods but to view the original arches of the Virgin acqueduct uncovered during maintenance work in 2017. We will see 15 arches in perfect condition and a light show on the Roman brickwork will reveal the former vast residential district in this area.
