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Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome

Project Description

Aquae Urbis Romae: the Waters of the City of Rome is a cartographic history of nearly 2800 years of water infrastructure and urban development in Rome. Water is a living system that includes natural features (springs, the Tiber River, etc.) and hydraulic elements (aqueducts, bridges, fountains, etc.) that are linked through topography. Learn about the structure, methodology, and pedagogical goals of the project.

G.I.S. Timeline Map

Follow the urban development of Rome through a unique G.I.S. timeline map that chronicles changes to the water infrastructure system from 753 BC through the sixteenth century. See how sewers, aqueducts, fountains and other hydraulic elements changed the face of Rome, as important people like Agrippa, Emperor Nero and popes Sixtus V and Clement VIII, among others, used water as an element of political control.

S e a r c h

Search the archive for specific hydrological features (including springs or streams), infrastructure features (including aqueducts, bridges, and sewers), urban features (water mills and fountains for example), patrons (such as Agrippa, Nicolas V, or Sixtus V), and designers (such as Giacomo Della Porta, Gian Lorenzo Bernini), etc.

J o u r n a l

Historic maps, treatises and images are available here, including a high-resolution "Zoomify" copy of the 1551 Bufalini Plan of Rome. More maps are on the way.

We publish refereed articles contributed by scholars and graduate students in our new occasional on-line journal "The Waters of Rome". If you are interested in contributing, please contact us.

T i m e l i n e -- no longer functional (archived material only)

T y p o l o g y -- no longer functional (archived material only). Typology is now accessed directly through the GIS Map and the Search tool

T o p o g r a p h y -- no longer functional (archived material only).

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