Ancient lost city discovered with drones near famed tourist route: ‘Source of great pride’

Italian officials announced the discovery of an ancient Roman city at the Fioccaglia site in Flumeri, Avellino, near the historic Appian Way.(Ministero della Cultura)

The recent excavation “clearly identified the orthogonal layout of the city, with regular street axes and planned blocks based on the model of newly founded Roman towns,” according to the statement.

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Officials said the forum — the civil and commercial center of the city — was crucial.Along with “a previously unknownmonumental theater,[it is] an element that attests to the social and cultural importance of the urban center.”

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“The findings confirm that Fioccaglia was a structured city equipped with monumental public buildings, reinforcing its historical and strategic role within the Roman road system,” the release added.

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The Appian Way, which runs roughly 350 miles from Rome to Brindisi, is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.(Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

Professor Giuseppe Ceraudo, a University of Salento professor who helped find the ruins, credited a combination of “geophysical surveys andremote sensing investigationsusing drones equipped with thermal and multispectral sensors.”

Parts of the Appian Way date back as far as 312 B.C., making it one of the oldest and most significant Roman routes.(Ivan Romano/Getty Images)

Angelo Lanza, the mayor of Flumeri, called the discovery “a source of great pride and a development opportunity for our territory.”

The discovery near the Appian Way sheds new light on Roman urban planning in southern Italy.(Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

The announcement adds to a list of othermajor historical discoveriesacross Italy so far in 2026.

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Earlier in February, officials at Pompeii revealed that2,000-year-old love noteswere found in a tourist-heavy part of the archaeological park.

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In January, archaeologists unveiled a long-lost basilicatied to Vitruvius,famously known as the father of architecture.

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