Experts believe ruins recently discovered by workmen digging under the courthouse in Florence may have been part of an ancient Roman temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis.
The remains of a spiral column and hundreds of coloured fragments were discovered when workers were digging a hole for a new water cistern for the courthouse’s anti-incendiary system. The hole was only four metres deep, measuring three metres by five metres, but due to the area’s historic significance, Florence’s archaeology superintendency suspected that interesting artefacts may be uncovered.
Alessandro Palchetti, the archaeologist charged with overseeing the works, reportedly commented that the finds are of extraordinary importance, and comparable to others found in the area over the past three hundred years. Other finds in the area have also been attributed to the temple of Isis.
The temple is believed to have been built around the end of the first century AD, and was in use for around three hundred years. Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of motherhood and fertility, who was later adopted by the Greeks and Romans.
Though the exact location of the temple is unknown, archaeologists have already uncovered several areas, including an uncovered area where spectators would have been seated and part of the orchestra. It is believed that the temple was built just outside the Roman part of the city, in the vicinity of the current courthouse building.
Archaeologists are now working on excavating a central corridor of the ancient Roman theatre in Florence, with plans for public access to the ruins within the next two years.
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