Overview
- A group of students who occupied Liceo Scientifico C. Cavour in January 2021 led teachers to a locked basement where they found Roman walls and frescoed rooms, a discovery later reported to the Special Superintendency of Rome by teacher Claudia Marino.
- Formal excavation work began in late 2025 and was presented to the public on May 28, 2026, when officials confirmed the structure is a mid‑2nd century CE domus now called the Domus Liceo Cavour.
- Archaeologists have documented stuccoed vaulted ceilings, floral and figurative frescoes, and a large‑tile mosaic and have catalogued roughly 48 crates of material recovered from the site.
- Inscriptions on lead water pipes name L. Fabius Gallus and Umbria Albina, suggesting likely occupants, while an 1895 report and graffiti from the 1920s–1950s show the house was intermittently noticed before the recent excavation.
- The Superintendency and Cantieri Narranti are carrying out diagnostic work and phased restoration funded in part by Italy’s recovery plan with plans for school involvement and eventual public access that will require more excavation and financing.