Tarquinia, ancient underground rooms discovered under the new registry office

A network of forgotten underground rooms has been uncovered in Tarquinia, in the subsoil of theformer Santa Croce Hospital on Via Garibaldi, during conservation restoration work carried out under the supervision of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria.

The restoration operation of the property at No. 23 Via Garibaldi, which will house the new headquarters of the Tarquinia municipal registry office, required the removal of the existing modern flooring: thus, some underground rooms came to light, which could be accessed through an old skylight, once closed by an iron grille and then walled up at the time of the abandonment of the basement.

After being filmed with a camera, an initial exploration of the rooms below was carried out by archaeo-speleologistsfrom the A.S.S.O. (Archeologia Subacquea Speleologia Organizzazione) association, as part of a collaboration agreement with the Superintendency. Three rooms, plus a fourth almost entirely filled with debris, were thus safely visited and documented, which appear to be part of an extensive system beneath the entire floor area of the municipal property. In all likelihood, the basements were abandoned and then sealed in the early part of the twentieth century.

During the adventurous exploration, which was attended in person by Superintendence officials Giuseppe Borzillo and Daniele F. Maras, and Mayor Alessandro Giulivi, arrangements were made for continued investigations by the Tarquinia Municipality in synergy with the Superintendence. As work continues, compartments currently obstructed by earth will be cleared in order to make it possible to understand the function over time of the underground rooms and , if possible, their relationship to the ancient Hospital of Santa Croce, which occupied the building from the 16th century until 1936.

Tarquinia, ancient underground rooms discovered under the new registry office

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