Italy uncovers ancient basilica designed by the ‘father of architecture’ Vitruvius
Mayor calls archeological find in the central Italian city of Fano the ‘discovery of the century’
Italian officials on Monday hailed the discovery of a more than 2,000-year-old public building attributed to Vitruvius, the ancient Roman architect and engineer known as the “father of architecture”.
“It is a sensational finding … something that our grandchildren will be talking about,” Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli told a press conference.
Vitruvius, who lived in the 1st century BC, is celebrated for having written De architectura, or The Ten Books on Architecture, the oldest surviving treatise on the subject.
His teachings on the classical proportions of buildings have inspired artists over centuries, including Leonardo da Vinci, whose famous drawing of the human body is known as the Vitruvian Man.
Archaeologists believe they have found the remains of an ancient basilica, or public building, in the central Italian city of Fano northeast of Rome, that was created by Vitruvius.
“I feel like this is the discovery of the century, because scientists and researchers have been searching for this basilica for over 500 years,” said the Mayor of Fano Luca Serfilippi.