In 1923, the construction of a building on the outskirts of Rome led to the find of a monument dating from the 4th century of our era.
An exceptional fact to be noted: the Hypogeum of Via Livenza was built on the site of an abandoned military necropolis, one of those countless cemeteries that made up a real "city for the dead" around the ramparts of the metropolis. The living were close to the dead whose sepultures lined along the roads leading to the city. As a matter of fact it is near a crossroad of the ancient Via Salaria that the mysterious monument has its foundations rooted 9 m under the ground level.
The building houses frescos and mosaics which rank among the finest examples preserved of Late Antiquity. At the turning point between paganism and christianism, its symbolism shakes up our references and invites us to plunge into the religious and philosophical culture of the 4th century AD.
Offering a true research laboratory to understand Late Antiquity, the Hypogeum has not yet revealed its function nor the cults it housed.
Our team has reopened the investigation and given a new interpretation to the existing archaeological evidences using an interdisciplinary approach. The result of the preliminarhty research conducted in the Hypogeum of Via Livenza has led us to new hypotheses that we still need to confirm.
For researchers, the cultural potential of the monument is no longer to be proved. In order to ensure diffusion and enable a wider public to access to the religious issues of Late Antiquity, we are working on the production of a documentary film that is midway between science and fiction.
By using the 3D restitutions obtained during our researches, our aim is to offer far more than just a virtual visit of the monument. We intend to initiate the public into archaeological investigation and sensitize viewers to these fragments of history which will help them to go back in time.