The school building itself, constructed between 1865 and 1885 as the headquarters for a Catholic missionary congregation, sits less than a thousand feet from the Colosseum. Historical records show that when the building's foundation was laid, workers reported discovering a corner of the ancient home to local authorities. Then the trail went cold. No further official mention of the Roman villa exists.
But the villa was never entirely forgotten. Graffiti scrawled on its walls bears dates from the 1940s and 1950s, years before the building became a school in 1962. More recent spray paint, almost certainly left by students in the decades since, proves the secret was an open one, at least among teenagers bold enough to go looking.
- Students discover long-lost Roman villa under high school gym
Tim Newcomb | Popular Mechanics | June 9, 2026
Neat story, and neat find.