The ruins of the long-lost imperial theatre of Roman emperor Nero have been found under the garden of a hotel in Rome, according to archaeologists.
Nero’s Theatre had never been found and was only referred to in ancient Roman texts primarily by Pliny the Elder, an ancient Roman author and philosopher.
Archaeologists had been excavating deep under the walled garden of the Palazzo della Rovere since 2020 as part of planned renovations on the frescoed Renaissance building.
The palazzo takes up a city block along the broad Via della Conciliazione leading to Saint Peter’s Square near the Vatican.
It is home to an ancient Vatican chivalric order that leases the space to a hotel to raise money for Christians in the Holy Land.
Officials hailed the findings from the excavation as “exceptional”, given they provide a rare look at a stratum of Roman history from the Roman Empire through to the fifteenth century AD.
Among the discoveries are 10th century AD glass coloured goblets and pottery pieces that are unusual because so little is known about this period in Rome.
Nero was the fifth emperor of Rome, born in 37 AD and rose to power at the age of 16.
He was perhaps best known for being tyrannical.
Marzia Di Mento, the site’s chief archaeologist, noted that previously only seven glass chalices of the era had been found, and that the excavations of this one site turned up seven more.
She said they found marble columns that were most likely part of the decorations of the theatre’s stage.
“They are columns of high value,” she said.
The archaeologists also found gold-leaf decorated plaster, leading them to conclude that Nero’s Theatre was indeed there, located at the site just off the Tiber River.
The governor-general of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, confirmed during a news conference announcing the archaeological discovery that the incoming hotel chain was the Four Seasons.
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Officials said the portable antiquities would be moved to a museum, while the ruins of the theatre structure itself would be covered again after all studies are completed.
News reports have said the hotel is expected to be open in time for the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, when an estimated 30 million people and pilgrims are expected to flock to Rome.