From being a hidden treasure, the incredible heritage of luxurious Roman residences built between the second and fourth centuries AD beneath Palazzo Valentini in Rome has become a multimedia museum to be discovered by visitors.
Very close to Trajan’s Column, it testifies that in the heart of Imperial Rome, and also of today’s Rome, there was a sort of very exclusive City.
The residential complex had decorated walls, mosaic floors like coloured carpets laid with stones from all over the Roman world, sculptures and thermal baths: it has now become a museum, the first in Italy, capable of recreating the magical atmosphere of Rome at the time of the Emperor Hadrian, with virtual reconstructions, graphic effects and films.
Scientific research on the finds, history and urban planning, combined with the use of computer graphics, allows visitors to take a leap back in time of almost 2000 years, and to see the rebirth of walls and rooms, decorations and furnishings, peristyles and spas, while making a magical, very emotional journey into a great Domus of ancient Rome.
The tour includes a model designed to allow visitors to understand the historical stratifications of the city and the various construction phases of Palazzo Valentini, starting from its foundation in the sixteenth century, as well as a virtual reconstruction of Trajan’s Column: visitors can participate closely in the clashes between soldiers, the assaults on fortifications, the submission of the defeated troops, all unwinding along the 100 meters of bas-reliefs that tell the story.