Sinkhole opens near the Pantheon, revealing 2,000-year-old Roman paving stones
By Laura Geggel - Associate Editor a day ago
Archaeological investigations following the opening of a sinkhole in Piazza della Rotonda in front of
the Pantheon in Rome have unearthed the ancient pavement of the imperial era.
(Image: © Alessandro Serrano'/AGF/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A sinkhole unexpectedly opened up in front of the Pantheon in Rome last month, revealing imperial paving stones that were laid over a millennia ago, news sources report.
The sinkhole, located in the Piazza della Rotonda, is almost 10 square feet (1 square meter) wide and just over 8 feet (2.5 m) deep. Inside the hole, archaeologists found seven ancient slabs made of travertine, a type of sedimentary rock.
Luckily, no one was hurt when the sinkhole collapsed on the afternoon of April 27, because the normally crowded piazza was empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sinkholes like this one, however, are becoming an increasingly common problem in Rome.
The stones uncovered by the sinkhole were created around the same time that the Pantheon was built, from 27 B.C. to 25 B.C., according to Daniela Porro, Rome special superintendent. They were designed by Marcus Agrippa, a friend of Emperor Augustus, Porro told Italian news agency ANSA. However, the Pantheon and the piazza were completely rebuilt sometime between A.D. 118 and 128 by the emperor Hadrian, and the area was further modified at the beginning of the third century by the emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
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https://www.livescience.com/sinkhole-pantheon-rome-ancient-paving-stones.html
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