Cisterne Romane

We finally had the opportunity to see the Roman cisterns under Todi today.  They've been closed the entire time we've been here for "technical reasons."  Michael hypothesizes that they were retrieving the body.

They turned out to be these enormous caverns, twelve altogether, that were used to store rainwater, help prevent flooding (according to the brochure; I'm rather unclear on how the top of a hill floods, but anyway...), and generally make life good for the Romans.  These particular cisterns have a twin complex on the opposite side of the piazza.

It's actually rather an interesting story.  The other cisterns, which are not open for public viewing, have been known since 1262.  The ones we saw today were only discovered in 1996 during renovations to the tobacconist's above.  One of the tobacconists we frequent on a regular basis, as a matter of fact.

This equalizing port is big enough to walk through

You can see the next few of 12 chambers.

These rooms are HUGE.

Love,

Alexandra