GPR has discovered a “huge” ancient Roman temple under a church in Croatia, reports Science in Poland
Screenshot from the Science in Poland Facebook post
The ruins of the Roman Empire, which once stretched across 2 million square meters miles of land, lie beneath many cities and towns in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. From Barcelona to Beirut, traces of the Romans can be found.
Now, with the help of ground-penetrating radar technology, an ancient Roman structure has been discovered in a small Croatian town.
Croatian and Polish researchers recently discovered a “huge” Roman temple under the church in the village of Danilo, located about 216 miles from Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, according to a report by the government-funded organization Science in Poland. Once upon a time, the ancient Roman city of Riddit was located on this site.
The size of the rectangular structure is estimated to be approximately 2,000 square feet, or approx one tenth the size of the Parthenon in Greece.
Its foundations were discovered under the church of St. Daniel, built in the 18th century, and under the medieval cemetery nearby. Some graves were “excavated directly from the remains of Roman baths,” reports Science in Poland.
“The data we collected show that under today’s church and the adjacent cemetery are the relics of a temple that was part of the forum, the most important part of the Roman city,” said Fabian Welz, a professor at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University. Science in Poland.
For Roman municipalities, the forum was a center of economic and social activity, Welz noted, Science in Poland reports.
The researchers suggested that the forum could be found near the church because pieces of “monumental architectural decorations and a large column” were found embedded in the nearby stone walls surrounding the medieval tombs, Science in Poland reported.
But relatively new technology helped confirm their suspicions.
The researchers used light detection and ranging, also known as LIDAR, an aerial scanning tool that uses lasers to gather “precise, three-dimensional information,” according to NOAA. This technology made the discovery possible ancient cities located deep in the Amazon rainforest, according to Smithsonian Magazine. It was also used for display the bottom of the ocean and locate shipwrecks, according to National Geographic.
Archaeological excavations are planned for next year to confirm the findings of Polish and Croatian researchers, reports Science in Poland.
For more than 70 years, archaeologists have been conducting research in the village of Danila, reports Science in Poland.
Other recent Roman archaeological finds include excavated watchtower in Morocco, reports ArtNews, and a large mosaic in Syria, NPR reports.
