On a recent trip to Rome, I visited ancient excavations and an exhibition beneath the Palazzo Valentini — a 16th-century building.

On the way to the museum, the Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini, I passed by the Piazza di Spagna square. Located at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, it is one of the most famous squares in Rome.

A fountain called Barcaccia by Bernini occupies the centre of the square. On the right is the Keats Shelley Memorial House, and the Babington, one of the most exclusive Tea Rooms of Rome is on the left.

I walked through Via Condotti, a busy and fashionable street of Rome. It is the most popular shopping area in Rome housing brands like Rado, Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo, Bulgari, and Louis Vuitton, among others.

Housed in the central province of Rome, the Museum of Palazzo Valentini is on Via IV Novembre, 119/A, across the street from Via de Cordonatta.

Thanks to a recent research project by a team of art historians, archaeologists and architects to restore and put these excavations on public display, I toured the museum on suspended glass footbridges built above the Roman ruins. Aided by modern technology interpretation, I was able to visualise how opulent Roman families lived back in the day.

READ: Museum recreates ancient Rome

Italy tops the Unesco World Heritage list with 50 sites. And even though this museum is not on the list, excavations in the palazzo’s basement, found around seven metres below street level, are displayed through sound effects, lighting, images and photographic projections.

The archaeological remains of ancient Roman houses uncovered beneath Palazzo Valentini are now on permanent display, adding to Rome’s already rich historical and artistic heritage. The results by the team of experts on this ancient underground archaeological site reveal an area that helps piece together the ancient, medieval and modern topography of Rome.

At this multimedia museum, antiquity meets innovation as a unique and magnificent example of how artistic heritage can be regenerated by careful restoration and enhanced through the use of new technologies.

The fascinating remains of the patrician Domus of imperial Rome, belonging to powerful families, with mosaics, wall decorations, polychrome floors, paving blocks, streets, horse stables and other remains, have been recreated with virtual reconstructions, graphics and videos.

I saw board games, pottery, walls, rooms, peristyles, kitchens, baths, study rooms, receiving and conference rooms, furnishings and decorations all brought back to life on the virtual tour. A large plastic model of the area as it appeared in Roman times, and showing the various stages of Palazzo Valentini, completed my tour.

There is Trajan’s Column where I admired the remains of a monumental public or sacred building; a large concrete platform, walls made of large blocks of travertine and tuff, remains of colossal columns made of single grey Egyptian granite blocks — the biggest to be found in ancient Rome, and bricked rooms with vaulted ceilings dating from the early years of the emperor Hadrian.

This new area also boasts an exhibition, curated by the same team, showing how the area of Trajan’s Column looked at the time of its construction.

A working model recreates the buildings as they appeared then, especially the huge Ulpian Basilica, which stood right next to the column. A video brings to life the two adjacent buildings, perhaps libraries.

I listened to the tale of Trajan’s military campaign — the conquest of Dacia, present day Romania. This extraordinary event that ended with the death of King Decebalus and the emperor’s triumph.

The present structure of the palazzo is characterised by its grand portal with three windows on each sides, with architraves and lintels and bounded by two travertine columns. Above it is a large balustraded balcony. The great cornice, under which are small windows divided by three mensoloni, is surrounded by a balustrade. The courtyard is a portico with five arcades on the short sides, and nine along the long sides, divided by Doric pilasters and rich in ancient statues.

Palazzo’s art treasures include the statue of Ulysses by Ugo Attardi, as well as works depicting Aeneas and Anchises and Europa, made by Sandro Chia to commemorate the 135th anniversary of the provincial administration of Rome.

Palazzo Valentini, seat of the provincial and prefectural administration of Rome since 1873, was commissioned to be built in 1585 by Cardinal Michele Bonelli, a nephew of Pope Pius V. In the seventeenth century it underwent renovation and a series of extensions were added by Cardinal Carlo Bonelli and Michele Ferdinando Bonelli.

At the start of the 18th century, the palazzo was leased to several prominent personalities. In 1827 the Prussian banker and Consul-General Vincenzo Valentini bought the building, making it his home and giving it its name.