Imperial Villa of Vicarello

The current private Vicarello estate is a park of about 2000 hectares in which the Roman remains of the villa and associated monumental baths were discovered in the 19th century, some of which are still preserved.

A continuous human presence since the 2nd millennium BC at the baths site and its identification as a healing sanctuary to Apollo was confirmed by the discovery in 1852 of a huge votive deposit dedicated to the cult of the waters.

An Etruscan cemetery covered a large area on the lower slopes on either side of the Roman baths, revealed by field surveys in 1986 and 1992,[3] which has been associated with the lost centre of Sabazia or Sabate.

[5] For these buildings cold water springs located 200m to the north of the baths were harnessed in the "long springhouse" feeding the small cistern nearby.

For increased water needs of the new extravagant monumental nymphaeum, Domitian soon added more springs to the main gallery of the "long springhouse" as well as the large Porcareccia cistern and a new bridge over the stream valley.

[6] Domitian owned and developed several large villa-estates in Italy including those at the Alban Hills, Tusculum, Antium, Anxur, Circeii, and Baiae.

The spring has a temperature of about 56 °C and was known as a healing centre and was frequented since ancient times as evidenced by the votive objects found there dating to the 7th century BC.

The baths included a monumental nymphaeum dedicated to Apollo whose Pentelic (Greek) marble statue originally over 2 m tall and dated to the second century AD was discovered in situ, now in the Archaeological Museum of Bracciano.

It covered a span of human activity dating to Neolithic times, with much from the Iron Age and later, one of the richest votive deposits ever found in Italy.

[12] Associated with this area is one of the sources of the Aqua Traiana[13] and traces of the aqueduct are still visible from the lake to the watershed of a stream running down the south-facing slope in the Fosso delle Ferriere ravine.

A map of 1789 in the State Archive in Rome shows many of the features that still exist, and that the conduit flowed along the ravine's western slope and crossed the stream on a bridge.