Archeologists find ruins of Nero’s Theater during excavations for new Four Seasons near Vatican
Archeologists in Rome said Wednesday that ruins of Nero’s Theater, an ancient theater erected by the Roman emperor, were unearthed under an area that will serve as the garden of a new Four Seasons near the Vatican.
Known as Theatrum Neronis, the theater was referred to in ancient Roman texts, but it had never been found until now.
The ruins, discovered underneath an area in the courtyard of the Palazzo della Rovere, a 15th-century frescoed building bordering Vatican City, provide a rare look at ancient Roman history — from the Roman Empire to the 15th Century.
“This is a discovery of exceptional importance,” Daniela Porro, special superintendent of Rome, said in a statement.
Nero, the emperor of Rome from A.D. 54 until 68, is believed to have used the private theater to rehearse “his poetics and singing performances,” she added.
On Wednesday, the governor-general of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, told reporters in Rome that the hotel chain conducting the excavation was the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Earlier this year, the order — a lay institution protected by the Holy See that dates back to 1336 — signed a contract allowing a Four Seasons hotel to manage part of a historic building close to the Vatican to raise money for Christians in the Holy Land.
The Vatican City Four Seasons — officially called Palazzo della Rovere — is expected to open in time for the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee.
The hotel is named after Domenico della Rovere, a cardinal from Italy’s northern Piedmont region.
Among the antiquities unearthed during the excavations are marble columns and gold-leaf decorated plaster, as well as service areas, “possibly deposits for costumes and scenography,” according to the order.
The excavations, which began two years ago, also produced 10th-century goblets, jugs, pottery pieces and road signs, officials said.
With News Wire Services
