Walking through downtown Rome. A discovery tour on the key role of geology in the history and urban development of the city

Many characteristics of the natural environment where Rome has developed for the last 3000 years have played a major positive role in promoting the excellence of Rome as a political, economic and administrative power, the so-called Caput Mundi of the ancient world. Aside from anthropological and ethnological factors, the positive geological and geomorphological setting of the future site of Rome favoured the settlement of several archaic villages along the left bank of the Tiber River since the beginning of the third millennium B.P. The sites were strategically located, being characterized by proximity to the river, over isolated tufaceous cliffs dominating the alluvial plain, the abundance of spring water and the wide availability of stones and natural building material that promoted a quick technological development of building and infrastuctural services to the growing town. The main natural factors playing a strategic role in the development of the long-lived city of Rome have been: - The geomorphology of the distal volcanic plateau - Tiber river network and the related alluvial deposits - The surface geology and its natural materials - The hydrogeology and microclimatic constraints