The Caffarella Park (Italian : Parco della Caffarella) is a large park in Rome, Italy, protected from development. It is part of the Parco Regionale Appia Antica (Appian Way Regional Park). The park is contained in the Caffarella Valley and is bordered on its northern side by the Via Latina and on its southern by the Appian Way. It stretches from the main Rome-Pisa railroad tracks near the Aurelian Wall at its western edge to the Via dell'Almone to the east. It contains several sites of archaeological interest, as well as a working farm, and has considerable ecological value, with 78 species of birds and fauna. [1] The Catacombs of Rome and Colli Albani (Rome Metro) are nearby.
In Roman times much of the area was occupied by a large estate known as the Triopius. Herodes Atticus was a Greek who became a Roman senator. Through his marriage to Annia Regilla, he acquired the land of the estate that stretched from the Caffarella Park to the Appian Way. Two ruins in the park date from that time: the tomb of Annia Regilla and the Nympheum of Egeria. Several towers in the park are medieval and served mainly as watch towers.
The modern name of the park comes from the Caffarelli family, which operated a farm in the area in the 16th century. It was subsequently owned by the Pallavicini family and the Torlonias. In the mid-20th century the area was in major danger of being used for urban expansion, but it was protected and then incorporated into the Appian Way park following popular campaigns for its preservation. [1]
The Appian Way is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, recorded by Statius, of Appia longarum... regina viarum.
Egeria was a nymph attributed a legendary role in the early history of Rome as a divine consort and counselor of Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, to whom she imparted laws and rituals pertaining to ancient Roman religion. Her name is used as an eponym for a female advisor or counselor.
Herodes Atticus was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned many Athenian public works, several of which stand to the present day. "[O]ne of the best-known figures of the Antonine Period", he taught rhetoric to the Roman emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, and was advanced to the consulship in 143. His full name as a Roman citizen was Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes.
Albano Laziale is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Latium, central Italy. Rome is 25 kilometres (16 mi) distant. It is bounded by other communes of Castel Gandolfo, Rocca di Papa, Ariccia and Ardea. Located in the Castelli Romani area of Lazio. It is sometimes known simply as Albano.
Appia Annia Regilla, full name Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla, was a wealthy, aristocratic and influential Roman woman, who was a distant relative of several Roman emperors and empresses. She was the wife of the prominent Greek Herodes Atticus.
The Villa of the Quintilii is an ancient Roman villa beyond the fifth milestone along the Via Appia Antica just outside the traditional boundaries of Rome, Italy. It was built by the rich and cultured brothers Sextus Quintilius Valerius Maximus and Sextus Quintilius Condianus.
Capo di Bove is an archaeological site on the Appian Way on the outskirts of Rome, Italy. It contains the thermal baths of a vast property owned in the 2nd century AD by Herodes Atticus and his wife Annia Regilla.
Appius Annius Trebonius Gallus, sometimes known as Appius Annius Gallus was a Roman senator and consul.
Appius Annius Atilius Bradua was a Senator of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century AD.
Marcia Annia Claudia Alcia Athenais Gavidia Latiaria, otherwise most commonly known as Athenais (143-161) was a Roman noblewoman of Greek Athenian and Italian Roman descent who lived in the Roman Empire.
Appia Annia Claudia Atilia Regilla Elpinice Agrippina Atria Polla otherwise most commonly known as Elpinice (142-165) was a Roman noblewoman of Greek Athenian and Italian Roman descent who lived in the Roman Empire.
Tiberius Claudius Marcus Appius Atilius Bradua Regillus Atticus, otherwise known as Atticus Bradua was a Roman politician of Athenian and Italian descent who was consul ordinarius in 185 AD.
The church of Sant'Urbano alla Caffarella is found on the edge of the Caffarella Park in the southeast of Rome. It was originally a Roman temple. In the 10th Century, the structure was modified and consecrated as a church and it was extensively altered in the 17th Century.
The Tombs of the Via Latina are Roman tombs, mainly from the 2nd century AD, that are found along a short stretch of the Via Latina, an ancient Roman road close to Rome, Italy. They are now part of an archaeological park and can be visited.
Quarto Miglio is an urban zone of Municipio VII of Rome, Italy. It was located in the south-eastern area of the city. As of 2010 it had a population of 11,052 people. It takes its name from its proximity to the 4th Mile of the Appian Way, which borders it to the southwest, and is close to much of the Appian Way Regional Park. Many of its street names come from ancient Romans connected with the area, including Herodes Atticus and Annia Regilla. In Roman times the area was known as "ad Quartum".
The Villa dei Sette Bassi is an archaeological site located in Rome, Italy.
The Appian Way Regional Park is the second-largest urban park of Europe, after Losiny Ostrov National Park in Moscow. It is a protected area of around 4580 hectares, established by the Italian region of Latium. It falls primarily within the territory of Rome but parts also extend into the neighbouring towns of Ciampino and Marino.
The Almone is a small river of the Ager Romanus, a few miles south of the city of Rome. Today the river is polluted and is channelled to a sewage treatment plant and no longer reaches its natural confluence with the Tiber.
Municipio Roma VII is the seventh administrative subdivision of the Municipality of Rome (Italy).
Appio-Latino is the 9th quartiere of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials Q. IX. The name derives from the ancient roads Via Appia and Via Latina. It belongs to the Municipio VII and Municipio VIII.