Ancona is definitely a city to be discovered and little known to the vast majority of people, both locals and those visiting the area. Among the most special attractions the city can offer, the underground is definitely one of the most unusual, and with this guided tour, suitable even for those who have never worn a speleologist's helmet, we will take you to discover a part of it.

The city still has a vast system of tunnels, cisterns, reservoirs and water conduits of great engineering interest. Some of these have been lost to the succession of ages, while some of them can still be visited today. Thanks to the painstaking work of a group of the city's spelolologists and the cooperation of the city administration, a search for some of these forgotten spaces began in 1984 to map them, to see where water still flows, but most importantly to allow anyone to learn about and see for themselves the history of the city's water supply.

The tour lasting about 1.5 hours starts with a meeting with the cavers at the famous Fountain of Calamus near Piazza Roma; having signed the safety waiver we set off to visit the reservoir hidden in the buildings that house the fountain of the same name. Inside this, an environment redeveloped and repurposed for public enjoyment, speleologists will tell you the history of these hydraulic works and relate trivia about the rediscovery of the tunnels of Underground Ancona. Most of the information of the visit will be provided here as the later rooms suffer from difficult acoustics and are not suitable for conversation.

At the end of this first part we move to Piazza Stamira: upon arrival, cavers will make you put on boots and a helmet equipped with a light before descending into the subsoil of the Piazza where a cistern of about 4,000 square metres is hidden. By means of a manhole cover, the cavers will help you descend below street level and after a few steps you will find yourself in an underground world of darkness and water. The experts who will guide you know these spaces like their own palms and will show you how they managed to find them, even managing to tame the water level so that they are usable throughout the year. Wells, water cascades, sluices, tunnels, these are the elements you will see inside the cistern of Stamira Square, in a unique environment of its kind greatly enriching your knowledge about the city and the hydraulic systems of other times.