The officials of Italy rejoiced on Monday over the discovery of a more than 2,000-year-old civic building that was credited to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect and engineer who was known as the father of architecture.
The discovery, made in Italy, was christened as sensational by the Culture Minister in Italy, Alessandro Giuli, and “will be discussed by the grandchildren,” according to him, in a press conference.
Vitruvius (1 st century BC) is famous as the author of the oldest extant work on architecture, “De architectura,” or The Ten Books on Architecture.
His works on classical ratios of the buildings have continued to serve as the basis of admiration among artists since then, with Leonardo da Vinci being one who used his teachings to draw a well-known illustration of the human body, which is called the “Vitruvian Man.”
In the central Italian city of Fano, northeast of Rome, archaeologists think they have discovered the remains of an ancient basilica, or public building, which was built by Vitruvius.
It is called the “discovery of the century” by the Mayor of Fano, Luca Serfilippi, since scientists and researchers have been searching for this basilica for more than 500 years.
Andrea Pessina, the regional archaeological superintendent, said that there was an absolute match between what was found and what Vitruvius wrote in his books.
Accurate layout descriptions
It was a rectangular shaped basilica, 10 columns on the long side, Pessina told, and 4 on the short.
When the remnants of four columns appeared in the process of excavation, archaeologists relied on the descriptions given by Vitruvius to place the column at the upper-right corner. Pessina said they found it at once when they began digging.
“It is not a great assurance in the science of archaeology,” he said, “but we were pleased by the accuracy with which the match was made.”
Additional excavation will reveal whether additional portions of the basilica are sub-surface and whether the location will be able to be opened to the people, as the superintendent added.
