The Museo Ninfeo is the latest exhibition space of the Rome Superintendency, born from a preventive archaeology operation but soon evolved into a broad cultural project for the city and the Esquilino neighborhood. Undoubtedly, it stands out among the most vibrant spaces of contemporary Rome, also serving as a catalyst for employment, as guided tours of the site are conducted by the young researchers who participated in the scientific project.

The excavations have allowed reconnecting this part of the Esquilino district to what was known about the Lamian Gardens since the late 19th century, thanks to the investigations of Rodolfo Lanciani. The investigations confirmed the layout of the Lamian Gardens as a luxury residence where space was predominantly organized into gardens dotted with halls, pavilions, porticoes, and nymphaea. During the early Imperial era, this entire part of the Esquilino became imperial property, as evidenced by historical sources, and confirmed by the discovery of a lead pipe seal bearing the stamp of Emperor Claudius found near a marble staircase connecting two terraces of the garden. The museum is built around a Roman-era building identified as a luxurious representation space, approximately 400 square meters, which reproduced in the emperor's private residence a public space of the city, such as the forum. The environment was part of the Lamian Gardens, the sumptuous residence built in the 1st century BC by Lucius Aelius Lamia, later becoming one of the most beloved garden residences by the emperors. Caligula, Claudius, Severus Alexander stayed there, modifying its appearance to create dream gardens and opulent settings. A microcosm of leisure where public spaces were emulated with grandeur and wealth. Precious marbles, goods, fragrant flowers, plants, and even exotic animals arrived here from the farthest corners of the empire. The patience of archaeological study and an interdisciplinary team of scholars, combined with a solid research, conservation, and musealization project, have allowed interpreting and presenting to citizens the aspects of daily life, banquets, and entertainments that took place within the Gardens. In the immediate subsequent phases, the building undergoes some modifications: next to the nymphaeum, some small mosaic-paved service rooms are built, perhaps a latrine, installed using the water pipes of the nymphaeum. On the eastern side of the building, three buttresses are added due to structural problems, and shortly after, two corner rooms with service functions. By the end of the 4th century, the loss of the residential function of the Lamian Gardens resulted in less frequent maintenance and initial degradation of the area. The ground levels in the external area significantly rise. From the early Middle Ages, between the 5th and 9th centuries, the hall is abandoned and gradually stripped of its marble furnishings. The area appears organized into small residential nuclei during this period; modest and ephemeral masonry structures are built inside the hall, while some burials are practiced along the perimeter road. Although the excavation has not yielded many stratifications for this period, largely removed by excavations for the construction of the “Umbertine quarter” at the end of the 19th century, the analysis of the walls has nevertheless brought to light some valuable evidence for the history of the Esquilino in the medieval period. A nearly twenty-year journey that deployed resources, technologies, professionalism, and highly specialized activities: the excavation of nearly 30,000 cubic meters of archaeological stratification; an original engineering project to support the archaeological structures above an underground parking lot; a research team for excavation, context, and material study; the work of an interdisciplinary group of professionals for museum communication. A rare opportunity for a preventive archaeology excavation, which typically has rapid timelines and little room for in-depth studies. The successful collaboration between MIC and the ENPAM foundation, the owner of the building, has transformed challenges into resources, realizing a major research project: a model to follow in a city in need of modernization but cannot and should not forsake the conservation of its immense cultural heritage.