(Vatican Radio) A team of archaeologists, historians, engineers and experts in Christian
antiquities on Thursday inaugurated an important new archaeological site in Rome.
The
site is located inside the area that belongs to the Basilica of St. Paul’s outside
the Walls and its adjoining Benedictine Monastery.
After a brief welcome
speech by Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul, members of
the Vatican Museums-backed team who have been collaborating with members of the Pontifical
Institute of Christian Archaeology and of Rome’s La Sapienza University, illustrated
the importance of the new archaeological site.
Listen to the report by
Linda Bordoni…
Where
Benedictine Monks had been growing their vegetables and tending to their vineyard
for over 1000 years, a precious archaeological site has been brought to light.
Six
years of hard work on the part of a team of archaeologists, engineers, historians
and experts in restoration has revealed what had been a missing link in the history
of the city of Rome.
In particular it shines the light on the time of Pope
John VIII whose chief aim during his pontificate was to defend the Roman state and
the authority of the Holy See at Rome from the Saracens.
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As
Professor Lucrezia Spera of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology revealed,
although there are many literary sources detailing events and costumes of the Early
Middle Ages in the city of Rome, until now there were no consistent archaeological
remains bearing witness to the period between the 8th and 9th
century AD.
That’s why there is so much excitement surrounding the opening
of the Archaeological Area in what used to be the pumpkin patch tended to by the Benedictine
Monks of the Monastery of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls.
Digs have revealed
that what today is a complex made up of the Basilica, its quadriporticus, Bell Tower,
Cloister and adjoining Monastery, was once a much larger settlement featuring a sanctuary
for the poor, a well, a tower and housing for some 200 people.
While the meticulous
work of archaeologists has revealed the lay of the ground and the kind of buildings
that surrounded the ancient Basilica of St. Paul’s outside the Walls, over 15,000
ceramic fragments, sculptures and coins put a face on the people of the time and narrate
their everyday lives as well as define the chronology of historical events.