{"id":5920,"date":"2026-02-26T23:25:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=5920"},"modified":"2026-02-26T23:25:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:25:42","slug":"ancient-roman-city-discovered-using-drones-near-popular-tourist-route","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=5920","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Roman city discovered using drones near popular tourist route"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft wp-block-nypost-editor-partner-article-links\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/11\/03\/science\/archaeologists-uncover-stone-ruins-from-ancient-city\/\">ancient city<\/a> \u2014 complete with a forum and a theater \u2014 was recently uncovered alongside a\u00a0popular tourist destination\u00a0in Italy, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p>In a translated announcement this month, the Italian Ministry of Culture said the city was found at the archaeological site of Fioccaglia in Flumeri, Avellino, alongside the\u00a0Appian Way.<\/p>\n<p>A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Appian Way is a roughly 350-mile-long road that runs from Rome to Brindisi.<\/p>\n<p>With some parts dating back as far as 312 BC, the road was one of the most strategically important roads in Ancient Rome \u2014 and an unusual remnant of life in antiquity.<\/p>\n<p>Officials said that the ruins were found with the use of drones, as led by a team of experts. <\/p>\n<p>The ruins date between the second and first centuries B.C.<\/p>\n<p>The recent excavation \u201cclearly identified the orthogonal layout of the city, with regular street axes and planned blocks based on the model of newly founded Roman towns,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>An ancient city was found at the archaeological site of Fioccaglia alongside the\u00a0Appian Way. <span class=\"credit\">Facebook\/Ministero della Cultura<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Officials said the forum \u2014 the civil and commercial center of the city \u2014 was crucial. <\/p>\n<p>Along with \u201ca previously unknown\u00a0monumental theater,\u00a0[it is] an element that attests to the social and cultural importance of the urban center.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe findings confirm that Fioccaglia was a structured city equipped with monumental public buildings, reinforcing its historical and strategic role within the Roman road system,\u201d the release added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Tourists visit the Arch of Drusus on the Appian Way on August 1, 2024, in Rome, Italy.  <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Professor Giuseppe Ceraudo, a University of Salento professor who helped find the ruins, credited a combination of \u201cgeophysical surveys and\u00a0remote sensing investigations\u00a0using drones equipped with thermal and multispectral sensors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The technology \u201cmade it possible to obtain a true \u2018X-ray\u2019 of the still-buried ancient center, identifying structures through variations in vegetation growth and in the magnetic composition of the subsoil,\u201d said Ceraudo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe multidisciplinary approach has provided a solid scientific basis for planning future protection and enhancement activities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The general view of the paved route of the Via Appia Antica between the towns of Fondi and Itri on July 13, 2024, in Fondi, Italy. <span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Angelo Lanza, the mayor of Flumeri, called the discovery \u201ca source of great pride and a development opportunity for our territory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Municipality is ready to work closely with the University and the Superintendency to ensure that Fioccaglia, a strategic road junction along the Via Appia, becomes a landmark in the historical and cultural offering of inland Campania,\u201d he said in the release.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement adds to a list of other\u00a0major historical discoveries\u00a0across Italy so far in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in February, officials at Pompeii revealed that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/19\/world-news\/hidden-graffiti-in-pompeii-reveals-2000-year-old-love-notes-an-immense-legacy\/\">2,000-year-old love notes<\/a>\u00a0were found in a tourist-heavy part of the archaeological park.<\/p>\n<p>In January, archaeologists <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/28\/science\/archaeologists-find-lost-basilica-tied-to-the-father-of-architecture\/\">unveiled a long-lost basilica<\/a>\u00a0tied to Vitruvius,\u00a0famously known as the father of architecture.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/26\/science\/ancient-roman-city-discovered-using-drones-near-popular-tourist-route\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ancient city \u2014 complete with a forum and a theater \u2014 was recently uncovered alongside a\u00a0popular tourist destination\u00a0in Italy, according to officials. In a translated&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}