Archaeologists in Italy's Marche region have recovered fragments of an ancient temple's frescoed walls and ceiling, still painted in vivid hues.
Silvia Marchetti
Finding ancient Roman temples with the interiors"still covered in paintings" is"extremely rare," said archaeologist Marco Giglio, the site's research project coordinator and a professor at the University of Naples L'Orientale. The ancient sanctuary is thought to have had a sky-blue ceiling, while the lower part of the temple's walls were painted yellow. Red, black and yellow squares were separated by images of candelabra and garlands, with green bands of color running horizontally along the walls.
"The incredible state of preservation and integrity of the frescoed parts, and the extremely rich color palette used -- particularly the bright sky-blue and pinkish-red -- stand out as quite exceptional when compared to the traditional red paint normally used in ancient times, thus suggesting it was a lavish shrine," added Benetti, who is a frescoes expert but was not directly involved in the excavation.
Research into the temple began in 2015, following a partnership between the Cupra archaeological park and the University of Naples L'Orientale. The temple will eventually be incorporated into the wider site, which gives visitors access to the Roman city's ruins.The temple underwent several radical changes after its foundation, making it harder for Gilgio's team to envision what it originally looked like.
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