Anio Novus

The Anio Novus was one of ancient Rome's most ambitious aqueducts, commissioned by Emperor Claudius and completed in 52 AD, later extended by Trajan. Stretching roughly 87 kilometres from the Aniene valley in the Apennines, it was engineered to run at sufficient elevation to supply even Rome's hilltop districts — a feat that required some of the tallest arcade sections of any Roman water infrastructure. The surviving arched segments near Gabii stand as weathered rows of opus masonry cutting through the landscape, illustrating the sheer scale of Roman hydraulic engineering. Protected as an Italian national monument, the ruins reward visitors with an atmosphere of quiet antiquity well away from the main tourist circuit.