Porta Metronia
station

The Project

The project includes three distinct entrances. The first one on via dei Laterani is equipped with two escalators and an elevator. A second entrance is located along via Farsalo and has a fixed staircase and two escalators, while the third entrance to the station is positioned along viale Ipponio, towards Porta Metronia. This last entrance, equipped with a fixed staircase, allows direct access to the lowered underground square. From this open public space, you can directly access the subway and the museum located in the western part of the station structure. The underground square also has an elevator that connects it directly to the street level on via dei Laterani.

External Arrangement

The external arrangement is characterized by the presence of 4 parallelepiped volumes covered in travertine slabs that rise about 3 meters from the floor level and serve as light wells that convey natural light into the museum area. The engineering challenge for the Porta Metronia station was to design a new distribution of spaces, considering the archaeological findings, in order to allow for the relocation of the archaeological artifacts unearthed during the excavation to the same position and orientation.

End Benefit and Sustainability

The excavation of the Porta Metronia station has been a significant opportunity for understanding Ancient Rome through archaeological excavations that reached a depth of approximately 15 meters, bringing to light remains of extreme historical and archaeological importance. The construction of the project has therefore become an opportunity for the enhancement of the discovered artifacts, which has transformed into the design and creation of a dedicated museum, separate from the station but accessible from the underground square.

The Aqua Cabra and Transformation Interventions

During the archaeological excavations, a vast archaeological complex was discovered. The archaeological investigations covered an area of approximately 1,750 square meters. The excavations brought to light a Roman barracks dating back to the 2nd century AD, consisting of over thirty rooms decorated with wall frescoes and mosaic floors. In the western half of the station structure, a large residential complex, likely of a military nature, was found, consisting of two levels (referred to as the “barracks” and the “Commander’s house”), while in the eastern half, there was a large garden area arranged on terraces sloping towards the Aqua Crabra ditch. The barracks, dating back to the time of Emperor Hadrian, was abandoned, razed, and partially buried during the construction of the Aurelian Walls.

The excavations demonstrated how the settlement dynamics of this territory were strongly influenced by the crossing of a reasonably sized watercourse known in Roman times as Aqua Crabra, with its subsequent transformations and natural or forced course deviations occurring over the centuries until its final obliteration, concurrent with land reclamation and leveling interventions carried out in the early 20th century.

The phases of occupation that yielded the most substantial evidence are those chronologically spanning from the Tiberian period to the mid-3rd century AD. It is within this chronological range that the site witnessed successive transformation interventions, as evidenced by a complex construction sequence. Along the left bank of the ditch, an imposing building gradually rose and structured itself on artificial terraces that followed the natural topography of the area.

An Archaeological Complex to Enhance

The characteristics and layout of the rooms on the upper terrace, dating back to the Trajanic era and identifiable as dormitories, have led to the hypothesis that this building may belong to a larger complex of a military nature. The topographic context of the discovery, in an urban area characterized by a decent density of military buildings – the Castra Peregrina at Santo Stefano Rotondo, the Statio V Cohortis of the Vigili at Santa Maria in Domnica, the Castra Nova Equitum Singularium at San Giovanni in Laterano, the Castra Priora Equitum Singularium in via Tasso – supports this hypothesis.

Prior to the relocation of the structures, manual removal activities were carried out to remove inconsistent surface deposits for the identification of damages (microfractures, fractures, and fissures) and biocidal treatment, extended to all surfaces and repeatedly applied to reduce attacks and the proliferation of biodeteriorating microorganisms. To preserve all the architectural elements and decorative features during drilling, cutting, and handling activities, operations were carried out to improve their structural consistency or adhesion to supports.

The repositioning of the archaeological complex identified within the Station Body will be carried out through a series of operations that must be performed in a specific sequence of phases in order to restore the complex of relocated structures (including floors, plaster, and special elements) to their original position, enhanced through restoration, consolidation, and esthetic presentation.

Rethinking Public Space

The project opportunity presented by the archaeological findings allowed for a radical rethinking of public spaces intended for the use of citizens, subway users, museum visitors, or residents. The project starts with the intention of returning quality-designed public spaces to the city, aimed at public use, enhanced by the historical pre-existing structures and the significant traces of the past in this area. The new underground square within the station structure integrates the street level with the underground levels of the museum and the subway. From the open space of Piazzale Ipponio, one can access the underground square, which in turn provides access to the museum area on one side and the subway station on the other.

This element represents the central hub of the distribution of the museum and the subway. It is a lowered urban space capable of creating a functional connection and, above all, a new urban space. In addition to providing access to the new museum and the subway, the square is equipped with a bar, integrated into the museum structure, and serves as a new urban space open to resident citizens and users of the subway and the museum. The museum setup already implemented at the San Giovanni station, as well as the project for the valorization in situ of the archaeological complex found at the Porta Metronia station, once again confirm how the construction of large urban infrastructure like Line C represents a formidable opportunity for enriching historical and archaeological knowledge and for the protection and enhancement of new discoveries.