The Heart of the City Lake
There’s a lake in Rome. Not an artificial lake, but a real one.
It was created as a result of an “accident” occurred in 1992 during the construction of an underground parking. During the excavations was intercepted, for errors of assessment, the groundwater of Acqua Bullicante, a pure mineral water that began to bleed and to fill the artificial invasion created with the works.
To this day the vein continues to feed the lake, guaranteeing its water equilibrium.
The lake has rich biodiversity. In the area there are 359 spontaneous species of higher plants, while in the public area of the pond 225 species, mostly typical of the pastures of the Roman countryside such as Scabiosa maritima, Dasypyrum villosum, Secutigera cretica, Securigera securidaca. Around the pond develops a lush vegetation of spontaneous species (Salix alba, Populus alba, Phragmites australis) and exotic species (Robinia pseudacacia).
Particularly rich is the birdlife (72 species), with species such as Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, Alcedo atthis Linnaeus, Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, along with species of passage like Falco peregrinus Tunstall and the Scolopax rusticola Linnaeus.
Last winter, a red fox was spotted around its shores after a snowfall.