Published January 13, 2015
The restored ruins of two opulent Roman villas and private thermal baths will open to the public Saturday, along with a 3-D reconstruction that offers a virtual tour of the luxurious residences discovered in downtown Rome.
The 19,375-square-foot complex, dating from the second to fourth centuries, features well-preserved mosaic and marble floors, bathtubs and collapsed walls that archaeologists believe belonged to a domus — the richly decorated residences of Rome's wealthy and noble families.
"We found part of a residential high-class neighborhood, where probably senators and knights used to live," archaeologist Paola Valentini said.
• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Archaeology Center.
Visitors will be able to walk on glass catwalks above the villas' underground remains, immersed in semidarkness just a few feet from the modern city. A 3-D virtual reconstruction recreates the elaborate decorations of the ancient residences through colored lights and projections.
The two villas were likely inhabited by a senator, his family and servants, and included libraries, halls, gardens, kitchens and stables, archaeologists said.
One villa was abruptly abandoned during a fire in the fifth century, they said.
Among the remains on display are parts of a basalt Roman road and a floor made of 500,000 multicolored mosaic tiles.
The site was excavated under Palazzo Valentini, a late 16th-century building housing the offices of the Lazio region, near the Roman Forum. Excavations began in 2005 and continue, archaeologists said.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/ruins-of-roman-villas-opening-to-public