Fragments of history among new buildings
Finding the remains of the Roman villa of Grottaccia is an adventure for true archaeology enthusiasts. The visible structures are currently inside a small garden surrounded by buildings in the center of Ladispoli.
The characteristic name of “Grottaccia” refers to the remains of a Roman rustic villa located between Via Nervi and Via Rapallo, in the heart of the town of Ladispoli, near the Don Giovanni Bosco Elementary School. In the garden attached to the school there are impressive remains of the corridor built on the semi-underground level of the villa. This is a cryptoporticus with a barrel vault, partially excavated and restored by the Superintendency. Research has led to the identification of the access staircase to the lower level of the corridor as well as various rooms attributable to the rustic area of the settlement. Portions of a room probably used as a warehouse for food supplies can be partially recognized. This function is suggested by the presence of large buried terracotta containers called doli. A millstone used for pressing olives is also visible along the garden fence. The structures and materials found reveal a long frequentation of the site that continued throughout the Roman imperial era, from the 1st to at least the 4th century AD. Two fragments of a column in cipollino marble. perhaps coming from this villa, they are stored a short distance away, in the garden of the Institute of the Augustinian Sisters in via Milazzo 18.