Posted by Adriana Baranello
An early Christian church, buried under earthquake rubble over a thousand years ago opens to the public today in Rome. The church, Santa Maria Antiqua, stands in the Roman Forum at the base of the Palatine Hill. It was rediscovered in 1900, but remained untouched for several decades. Now, after more than three decades of painstaking restoration, this stunning example of early Christian art, has been opened to the public.
The opening of the church follows on the October 2015 opening of a massive underground passageway that connected the imperial palaces to the Forum. The passageway’s terminus is Santa Maria Antiqua, and it contains numerous frescoes of its own.