Parco degli Acquedotti

Parco degli Acquedotti is a 240-hectare green zone in southeast Rome where the arcades of seven ancient aqueducts cross the open countryside. The most spectacular is the Aqua Claudia, begun by Caligula in 38 AD and inaugurated by Claudius in 52 AD; about 90 of its travertine arches survive, rising up to 28 metres. The underground Aqua Marcia from the 2nd century BC, one of the longest Roman aqueducts ever built, runs directly beneath. Federico Fellini opened La dolce vita here in 1960 with the helicopter carrying a statue of Christ, and Paolo Sorrentino returned in 2013 for the morning jog scene in The Great Beauty. Today shepherds still graze flocks beneath the arches, joggers loop the umbrella pines, and in May red poppies break right up to the aqueduct piers.