In the city of Fano on the coast of Italy’s Marche region, a team led by archaeologist Ilaria Rossetti of the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Ancona and Pesaro and Urbino has discovered the only building known to have been designed by the renowned first-century b.c. Roman architect Vitruvius. In his treatise On Architecture, Vitruvius describes the structure as a basilica measuring 164 by 114 feet, with a colonnade of eight columns on the longer sides and four columns along the shorter sides. Archaeologists unearthed two bases on which statues likely once stood, the lower parts of five of the columns along the colonnade’s long sides, and sections of the basilica’s outer walls, which were covered in plaster that was painted black. They found that each column is made of stone blocks placed around a cement core and has a diameter of five feet. Both details match Vitruvius’ account and are evidence that the archaeologists have indeed identified the lost building.
