A Roman villa was sitting under a school gym in central Rome, and students helped bring it to light.

Italian officials recently unveiled the remains of an ancient Roman domus found beneath Cavour High School, just steps from the Colosseum. Archaeologists presented their findings to teachers and students at the school earlier in June before releasing the excavation results.

In a statement issued by the school, Cavour High School said the domus was discovered “by chance” beneath a gymnasium, though officials did not give details about how it was found.

“Over the years, after becoming aware of these findings, school staff informed Rome’s Special Superintendency about the accidental discoveries,” the translated statement said. “Following the planning of an intervention, work began in January 2026 to remove more recent fill material, paving the way for the archaeological excavation of the site.”

Photos released by officials show vaulted rooms with faded frescoes and decorative plasterwork, along with modern graffiti and piles of rubble.

Claudia Marino, a history and Latin teacher at Cavour High School, told The Times of London she first brushed off rumors that ancient ruins were hidden under the school.

“Ten years ago, a student told me the story, but I didn’t give it much thought,” Marino told the publication.

She said she started to take the rumors seriously only years later, after a student protest at the school.

“When it was over, a group of students told me, ‘There really is something under the school,'” she added. “We take our pupils to have outdoor lessons on the Palatine Hill, so they know [what] they are talking about.”

Marino later went into the school’s basement with colleagues and used a key to open an iron door, revealing the ruins that had long been rumored to be there.

“Beyond that were ancient Roman walls, a space we squeezed through — and we were in the villa,” she told The Times of London.

The villa also contained graffiti dated 1940 and 1950, showing the site had been accessed decades before the recent excavation.

Officials plan to eventually open the villa to the public, with students serving as guides. Last summer, archaeologists working on Rome’s Metro Line C project uncovered a multi-story apartment building dating to the first century B.C.

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