Six metres below modern Vicenza lies one of the city's lesser-known historical treasures - a first-century Roman cryptoportico. Discovered during post-war reconstruction in 1954, it's the only private cryptoportico uncovered in northern Italy to date.
The three-sided semi-subterranean passageway once ran directly below the peristyle of a wealthy private domus (house), its small splayed windows once opening on the garden. Stairs leading down to the cryptoporticus unveil tiny fragments of the Pompeian red that once decorated the strcuture's marmorino plaster walls. Running off the end of the first corridor is what may have been small storage room, its doorframe still pierced by deep sockets that once supported a heavy wooden door. The presence of such a heavy door has led some archaeologists to believe that the room may have functioned as a safe, used to store valuable items such as important documents, gold or silver, or even weapons. The font inside this room is widely believed to be a Lombard baptismal font.
At the end of the second corridor another side room features a small section of mosaic flooring. Even older than this are the unusual hexagonal terracotta tiles in the adjoining room, each embedded with a small piece of marble.
The third and final corridor leads to a well dating from the medieval period - a feature some historians believe may have been used as a shelter from Hungarian invaders at the end of the 9th century.
Free tours of the cryptoportico run every Saturday between 10am and noon, as well as every second Sunday of the month. From March to May, the site is open every Sunday of the month. To ensure an English-speaking guide, it's always a good idea to email ahead.
