The tunnels of Claudius were built between 41 and 52 AD. They comprise a long tunnel, six culverts, and 32 wells.
They were built to drain the Fucino Lake to prevent floodings and make the soil more easily cultivable.
The underground tunnel is more than 6 kilometers long. The entrance is located in the southern part of Avezzano, in Borgo Incile, near the channel that gathers all the waters from the surrounding channel from the Giovenco Plain. The exit, instead, is located beneath Capistrello.
The tunnels of Claudius were declared national monument in 1902, and nowadays the entire area represents an archeological site protected by a park founded in 1977. In recent years, the tunnels have been rediscovered by the locals and by the thousands of tourists that come from all over Italy to admire this extraordinary structure.