Italian officials announced the discovery of a 2,000-year-old basilica attributed to the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, uncovered in the town of Fano (ancient Fanum Fortunae) and completed in 19 BCE. The structure, the only known building by Vitruvius, was found using his own descriptions from the treatise *De architectura*, with archaeologists led by Andrea Pessina confirming an "absolute match" after locating columns exactly where predicted. The discovery was hailed by Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli as "the Tutankhamun of the 21st century."
This finding matters because it confirms the existence of a legendary building referenced in the sole surviving architectural treatise from antiquity, ending a 500-year search by scholars. The basilica provides tangible evidence of Vitruvius's design principles, which later influenced Leonardo da Vinci's *Vitruvian Man* and shaped Western architecture. The discovery also underscores the enduring value of classical texts in guiding modern archaeology and offers a rare direct link between ancient written theory and physical construction.