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Construction of Metro Line C revealed under Porta Metronia a Roman military complex with mosaics, frescoes, and preserved structures, leading the station’s design to incorporate part of the ruins into the underground space used by passengers.
The construction of Porta Metronia station on Rome’s Metro Line C revealed a 2nd-century AD Roman military complex beneath the streets of the Italian capital, prompting those responsible for the project to redesign part of the plan to preserve the structures within the station itself.
Previously associated with the name Amba Aradam/Ipponio, the stop was opened to the public on December 16, 2025, along with the Colosseo-Fori Imperiali station, in a section that expanded Line C’s presence in central Rome.
The discovery occurred during archaeological excavations in the Porta Metronia area, near the Aurelian Walls and the Celio neighborhood, a region of the Roman underground with records of successive occupations since antiquity.
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According to Metro C ScpA, responsible for the project, the investigations covered about 1,750 square meters and brought to light a Roman barracks with more than 30 rooms, frescoes on the walls, and mosaic floors.
The size of the complex led the Special Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Rome to order the temporary removal of the structures, followed by a revision of the station’s design to allow the relocation of the ruins to the same site.
With this decision, the project came to encompass stages of engineering, archaeology, and conservation, as the railway infrastructure needed to be adjusted to accommodate the archaeological material without hindering metro operations.
Porta Metronia Station integrates metro and archaeological area
The station was planned to function as a boarding and alighting point, but the design also incorporated areas intended for the exhibition of the findings discovered during the Line C excavations.
Thus, part of the passengers’ route now shares the underground with ancient walls, decorated pavements, and architectural elements linked to a military complex that remained buried for centuries.
According to Webuild Value, a publication linked to the group leading the project consortium, the station develops over five underground levels, about 30 meters deep, with 118 meters in length and 28 meters in width.
The construction adopted the top-down method, a technique where excavation progresses from top to bottom while the structural levels are executed progressively, forming supports during the opening of the underground space.
This choice allowed for the compatibility of the station’s depth, urban site limitations, and the presence of the archaeological site, according to the technical information released about the project.
In addition to the circulation of trains and passengers, the project included areas for observing the findings, so that the ancient structures were integrated into the route without compromising the railway operation requirements.
Roman barracks had mosaics, frescoes, and the commander’s domus
The complex identified at Porta Metronia is associated with the Roman imperial period and shows more consistent phases of occupation between the Tiberian era and the mid-3rd century AD.
Metro C reports that the barracks date back to the 2nd century and were related to the period of Emperor Hadrian, before being abandoned and partially buried during the construction of the Aurelian Walls, between 271 and 275 AD.
The structures included rooms aligned along corridors, with mosaic floors and decorated walls, elements that helped archaeologists interpret the internal organization of the building.
In institutional material from Webuild about Line C, the reconstruction of the building is described as consisting of 39 rooms along a central corridor, a configuration compatible with military accommodation areas in the Roman context.
In the western part of the station, excavations also identified a military residential complex, organized on two levels and described by Metro C as “barracks” and “Commander’s domus.”
This sector gathered rooms with decorative coverings and functional areas, while the eastern portion preserved a garden space on terraces facing the ancient area of Aqua Crabra.
Ruins were removed, cataloged, and reinstalled
The solution adopted at Porta Metronia was not limited to the archaeological recording of the structures before the continuation of construction, as occurs in some projects that cross historical areas.
The structures were dismantled, cataloged, stored, and then relocated within the station, in an operation aimed at maintaining the relationship of the complex with the point where it had been found.
According to Webuild Value, the masonry was numbered, cataloged, and preserved in climate-controlled containers before being reinstalled in the position planned by the station’s museological project.
The publication states that the decision to reassemble the barracks inside the stop was made due to the importance attributed to the find by those responsible for archaeological preservation.
With the reintegration of the ruins, the station began to combine public transport and heritage exhibition functions, allowing metro users to pass through an area where ancient structures were kept visible.
This configuration changed the intended use for part of the station’s basement, which no longer only houses technical systems, passenger circulation, and platforms, but also includes preserved archaeological remains.
Line C crosses historical areas of Rome
Line C is a transportation project carried out in a city where underground interventions often encounter remains from different periods, especially in sections near the historical center of Rome.
At Porta Metronia, the station is located between San Giovanni, an integration point with Line A, and Colosseo-Fori Imperiali, a stop that allows connection with Line B.
The opening of Porta Metronia and Colosseo-Fori Imperiali in December 2025 expanded Line C’s operation towards central areas of the Italian capital.
Roma Capitale reported that the two museum-stations are part of a section of about 4 kilometers and enhance findings revealed during the works commissioned by Roma Metropolitane and executed by the consortium Metro C.
In the case of Porta Metronia, the project demonstrates how mobility projects in historical areas may require engineering changes to reconcile public transportation, structural safety, and archaeological preservation.
The imperial barracks found beneath the station were not moved to an external museum; they became part of the station itself, within the project that organizes the underground circulation of passengers.
The discovery also highlights the presence of ancient urban layers beneath the current city, with the possibility of records related to houses, roads, hydraulic systems, military areas, and public buildings.
At Porta Metronia, the train route was maintained, while the project created space for walls, mosaics, and frescoes to remain integrated into the underground where they were identified.
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