A city that was once the centre of an ancient empire is collapsing in on itself, partly due to the legacies of its glorious past.
Built on an immense labyrinth of underground galleries and quarries, the city is experiencing an alarming increase in the number of sinkholes opening up on its streets.
In some instances, cars have been known to fall over twenty metres into the dark depths of the city’s bowels.
Modern Rome is built atop its ancient self, and therein lies the root of the problem.
One of the main causes for the sinkholes are the tuff quarries dug by ancient Romans, who used the rock in the construction of many of their buildings.
The quarries could have depths of up to two or three stories, so when a street opens up cars can disappear many metres down into the ground.
Adriano Morabito, a speleologist who organises tours of Rome’s underground passages, told the RTBF website: “If there’s a leak in the water pipes or sewers, the earth beneath the road becomes full of water.
“And if there’s an old quarry or gallery, the leak can cause huge sinkholes!”
In March this year, a massive sinkhole appeared in the Via Sestio Menas in the early hours of the morning.
The sinkhole measured 10 metres deep and 10 metres wide, swallowing up two cars – a Dacia and a Renault.
The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) says the city is experiencing a sharp rise in the phenomenon.
Stefania Nisio said: “The census began about a century ago, but the phenomenon has accelerated sharply in the last twenty years, with a peak of one hundred and seventy-five sinkholes in 2018.”
ISPRA says the main causes for the land subsidences are Rome’s underground tunnels, sewers and ancient quarries.
Together they create a maze extending hundreds of kilometres under the city, with the location of many cavities either unmapped or unknown.
Sinkholes can sometimes reveal treasures from the city’s ancient past, as was the case in 2020 when one opened up outside the Pantheon.
The sinkhole revealed imperial Roman pave stones that appear to date to between 27 and 25 B.C
