Tor Fiscale Park, Rome

Easily reachable from the Porta Furba metro station or with a beautiful walk continuing beyond the Aqueducts Park is the Tor fiscal park. A natural environment full of beauty and historical vestiges. Here the Claudio and Felice Aqueducts meet (the latter already said of the rotten water before Pope Sixtus V Felice Peretti restored it and gave it its name) here the Goths stopped and founded the famous Barbarian Camp used several times in history to attempts to invade Rome. The tower governs from above what must have been a large agricultural estate, but gives charm and beauty to the whole. A walk is pleasant, a guided tour is really useful to learn a lot of things.

Well-kept park with plenty of space for picnics, lying in the sun, playing outdoors. There is also a farmhouse with bar and restaurant.

The Torre del Fiscale, just under 30 meters high, stands on one of the intersection points between the Claudio and Marcio aqueducts and the ducts of the Aquae Tepula and Iulia. They were then joined by the Felice Aqueduct, which owes its name to Pope Sixtus V (Felice Peretti) and which crosses with its imposing structure, in perfect condition, the Parks of the Aqueducts and Tor Fiscale to end at the hills Viminale and Quirinale. It was the first aqueduct built in Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire and is owned by the Municipality of Rome. It stands on ancient Roman structures and the construction technique and characteristics place its construction between the 12th and 13th centuries. The monument is one of the best preserved examples among the many towers and farmhouses that still mark the landscape of the Roman Agro. It was once believed that they were part of an articulated lookout and signaling system to defend the city and the countryside. Recent studies, however, have revealed that these structures were born to defend the crops and land properties of the noble Roman families. In fact, in a document dated 1277 the tower was sold together with a mill and vineyards, suggesting that it was part of an agricultural fund. The toponym “Torre del Fiscale” dates back only to the 17th century, when it passed into the hands of Msgr. Filippo Foppi, ("fiscal") treasurer of the Papal State. Between 2003 and 2010 it was the subject of studies and monitoring which were followed by consolidation and restoration works to preserve its integrity and allow it to be used by the public. Today Tor Fiscale shows itself in all its grandeur to those who walk in the Parco degli Acquedotti and has recently been equipped with a lighting system that makes it enjoy the beauty even at night. The only flaw is the immediate surrounding area full of illegal structures and houses and waste abandoned everywhere that offers a disturbing contrast between magnificence and decay.