- The Cloaca Maxima is the ‘Great Sewer’ of Rome. It is an underground canal or conduit built around 600 BCE and is still in use today.
- It passes underneath the Forum Romanum, in Rome and empties into the river Tiber.
Getting There
- Location: Completely underground but it drains into the Tiber just south of the Ponte Palatino.
Dual function
- The eleven Aqueducts of Ancient Rome and the Baths of Ancient Rome all drained into the Cloaca Maxima which then drained into the Tiber.
- The Cloaca Maxima also acted as an underground canal for the multiple streams draining the marshy areas upon which Rome was built, preventing flooding.
Other Roman Tunnels
The mouth of the Cloaca Maxima on the river Tiber