2,500-year-old ‘monumental’ temple unearthed next to identical set of ruins in Italy
Archaeologists in Italy unearthed the ruins of an ancient temple 70 years ago. Now, they’ve found its twin.
The Vulci archaeological park was one of the most important urban centers in Italy before the Roman empire, according to a Nov. 10 news release from the University of Freiburg. Excavations in the area during the 1950s uncovered the Tempio Grande, a sacred temple built by ancient Etruscans.
A team of archaeologists have uncovered ruins of a similar building nearby, photos show.
The “monumental temple” was built around 2,500 years ago, sometime between the end of the sixth century B.C. and the beginning of the fifth century B.C, archaeologists said in the release. The building is about 115 feet long and 147 feet wide.
The new temple is “similar” in size, shape and age as the Tempio Grande, which sits a short distance away, archaeologists Dr. Mariachiara Franceschini of the University of Freiburg, one of the project’s co-leaders, said in the release.
Video footage shows the ruins of both temples. The ruins of Tempio Grande stands on the right. The new temple is on the left, its excavated area smaller and in-progress.
“This duplication of monumental buildings in an Etruscan city is rare, and indicates an exceptional finding,” said archaeologist Paul Pasieka of the University of Mainz, the project’s other co-leader.
Archaeologists plan to study different phases of the new temple’s history to understand more about ancient Etruscan religion, social structure and daily life, the release said. Already, researchers have made progress toward this goal.
“Our knowledge about the appearance and organization of Etruscan cities has been limited until now,” Franceschini said. The newly-found temple is “offering us insights into more than a thousand years of development of one of the most important Etruscan cities.”
Vulci archaeological park is in the central Italian region of Lazio, sometimes called Latium, about 75 miles northeast of Rome.
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