Medieval church lost for centuries, tomb full of skeletons unearthed in Venice

Archaeological excavations in Venice, Italy, uncover a tomb full of skeletons and a medieval church

A rectangular brick tomb filled with skeletons and a medieval church lost for centuries have been discovered during excavations to restore eroded paving stones in the center of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy.

The first discovery was a rectangular brick tomb filled with skeletons, according to a Feb. 19 Facebook post by the Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape Inspectorate of the Municipality of Venice and the Lagoon.

The tomb dates to the seventh or eighth century, when people were often buried inside or next to a church, team leader Sara Bini told Italian newspaper Rai News.

Authorities said excavations near the 1,200-year-old tomb revealed some remains of walls and floors, and when they continued excavating, they discovered a medieval church.

Archaeologists identified these remains as the lost medieval church of San Geminiano.

Based on archive sources, archaeologists knew that the church of San Geminiano was built somewhere in the Piazza San Marco in early medieval times, demolished and relocated twice, then permanently destroyed in the early 1800s, the Italian newspaper Corriere del Veneto reported.

The exact location of the original church had been lost for centuries but not anymore, archaeologists said.

Source: Newsroom