Claudio Lotito investigated for underground bunker in Appia Antica

An investigation by the television program Report has uncovered the construction of a massive underground bunker and a 50-meter tunnel at the villa of Senator Claudio Lotito. The property is located within the Appia Antica archaeological park, an area subject to strict legal protections and cultural heritage constraints.

The tunnel reportedly features white walls decorated with relief columns and reddish compass roses painted on the ceiling. Satellite and aerial imagery suggest significant changes to the landscape over the last two decades. While the area was heavily vegetated in the early 2000s, images from 2019 show a large dark structure following the perimeter of the main villa, which sources claim is a protective membrane covered by soil and a fountain to conceal the bunker.

Aerial footage captured between 2020 and 2023 indicates that a central villa may have been demolished and rebuilt, while an adjacent villa was renovated and a chapel expanded. Although an investigation into alleged building abuses was opened in 2023 following a report by the Rome Capital Police, it was archived later that same year.