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Sarsina is a quiet rural town of only 3,000 inhabitants situated on both sides of the pristine Apennine Mountains in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, surrounded by amazing perspectives and grazing sheep.
Although it has an excellent past, as a strategic defensive outpost of the Roman Empire and birthplace of the noted playwright Plautus, today there is not much to do beyond bird watching.
And while locals and tourists alike would agree that a rustic, laid-back way of life is part of Sarsina’s charm, its locals were still eagerly awaiting the structure of a task that included a new supermarket, gym, and playground. But it was not plannedthat it would be carried out, at least not as originally planned.
In December 2022, staff from the outskirts of the city unearthed the ruins of an ancient Roman temple (or “capitolium”) dating back to the first century B. C.
In early July, the underground treasure was glimpsed for the first time: a unique design composed of horizontal sandstone blocks and marble slabs, 577 square meters wide, which researchers knew as the podium on which the columns and walls of an ancient temple stood. .
And what has emerged so far is possibly just the tip of the iceberg.
“We have unearthed three separate rooms, dedicated to the triad of the gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva,” the excavation site’s lead archaeologist, Romina Pirraglia, told CNN. “Excavations are still ongoing. . . And we have already known an older and deeper room. “layer of ruins dating back to the fourth century BC, when the peoples of Umbria (an ancient Italic tribe before the Romans) lived in the area. It is possible that the entire temple is even larger than what we see now.
According to Pirraglia, the discovery of a capitol, the main temple of a vital Roman city and a center of industry, as well as social and devout interactions, further confirms Sarsina’s strategic role in the Roman Empire. The city was built in a key mountainous area. near the Tuscan border and overlooking the Savio River, a vital waterway connecting the Roman cities of the center and north.
The discovery of the temple prompted the local government to revise its construction plans. Federica Gonzato, superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the provinces of Ravenna, Rimini and Forlì-Cesena, to which Sarsina belongs, categorically asked to maintain the ruins and deepen the studies. in its wonderful past.
“We are not going to tear it down to make way for fashionable structures, that will have to be very clear. Previous urban plans will be changed, we will locate new structures for recreation and sports sites,” Gonzato said. “The temple is a discovery that sheds light on how ancient Roman cities evolved and collapsed over time. “
What makes this discovery exceptional is the unique state of preservation of the temple. ” The glorious quality of the stones has been saved from looting, enemy invasions and looting over millennia thanks to Sarsina’s remote location, a quiet place, away from the big cities,” Gonzato added. “Temples like this (were) looted, extracted from stones and marble slabs to be reused in the construction of new houses. But the design of the Sarsina Capitol podium is virtually intact, with its well-preserved entrance staircase, which is incredibly rare.
Gonzato believes that this discovery will allow progress in studies on demography and urban transformations in antiquity. And the site is not limited to the temple podium. Pirraglia said there were symptoms that the building had been reused in medieval times. An ancient water drainage formula has been found alongside medieval tombs and homes.
“This is the beauty of Italy: everywhere you dig, a hidden treasure emerges from the earth. The wonders never cease to amaze us,” Gonzato said.
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