Tracce persistenti e memoria dell’archeologia dell’acqua nel Rione Esquilino, da Porta Maggiore fino ad Spem Veterem. Persistent Traces and Memory of the Hydraulic Archaeology of the Esquiline District, from Porta Maggiore to ad Spem Veterem

This paper aims to offer a broad reflection on the relationship between urban heritage, hydraulic archeology and the use of public space in the Esquiline district, in Rome. The relationship between archaeological pre-existence, historic city and public space has been configured – especially in recent years – as conflictual, so much so that we can observe a real disconnect between the civic function of the work and its use by the community. Although this condition could be argued in multiple ways, what appears instrumental to this research is to point out the need to integrate the recovery of individual architectures as well as entire portions of the degraded urban fabric, inserted in a profoundly changed environmental context to which they do not relate organically. On the other hand, the formal, physical, visual and perceptual connections that we can identify in the contemporary city are complex and include multiple factors, all interacting with each other. In fact, the understanding of the identity characters of a given areal and the aspects related to the collective memory and even the ways of crossing places, are therefore fundamental in order to set up a process of study of the urban and territorial environment.