Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Church in Oderzo, Revealing 7 Burials
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 15
Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Church in Oderzo, Revealing 7 Burials
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 15
Summary
Oderzo excavators uncovered what officials say is the city’s earliest known Christian church, a Late Roman structure with polychrome mosaic floors beneath a former fish market site.
The dig began in November ahead of a residential redevelopment project, exposing a rectangular church about 75 feet wide and at least 98 feet long with thick brick foundations set on wooden piles.
Four burials holding the remains of seven people were found along the foundation walls, and anthropologists are now studying them for clues about the cemetery and those buried there.
The church’s eastern end remains unexcavated, suggesting the complex may be larger; evidence indicates it was later abandoned, stripped for materials and partly destroyed in the Middle Ages.
Officials called the find exceptionally significant because it sheds new light on ancient Opitergium as Christianity was becoming dominant in the Roman Empire.
What secrets do the skeletons buried beneath this 1,600-year-old basilica hold about Italy's first Christians?
Could this ancient church, found under a fish market, rewrite the dawn of Christianity in Northern Italy?
Unveiling Oderzo’s 1,600-Year-Old Basilica: A Groundbreaking Discovery Reshaping Northern Italy’s Early Christian History
Overview
The recent unveiling of a 1,600-year-old basilica in Oderzo, northern Italy, marks a major archaeological breakthrough that is reshaping our understanding of the region’s ancient history. This discovery is providing new insights into the early Christian era of the Roman city of Opitergium and is being celebrated as a pivotal event for historians. Ongoing excavations have revealed intricate mosaics in the basilica’s northern aisle, highlighting the site’s artistic and cultural significance. As research continues, the basilica promises to offer invaluable information about the religious and social landscape of northern Italy during late antiquity.