Acquedotto Felice
Address
Description
Built between 1585 and 1587 at the behest of Pope Sixtus V (born Felice Peretti), from whom it takes its name, to a design by Matteo Bortolani; due to miscalculations on the slope of the aqueduct's pipes, the work was later entrusted to Giovanni Fontana, who also built the fountain, also known as the Fountain of Moses, in Piazza San Bernardo.
The aqueduct, which is still in operation today, follows a rather sinuous route, following the contour line of the Castelli foothills. It re-emerges at the Parco degli Acquedotti, to the right of the Claudio aqueduct. Along the way it has two triumphal arches, one at Porta Furba, which crosses the Tuscolana and the Acqua Mariana ditch, the other in Via Marsala, shortly after entering the city through Porta Tiburtina.
The aqueduct was to serve the Viminale and Quirinale hills, but above all Villa Montalto, the pope's vast residence that extended over both hills.