The Discovery of the Roman Mosaic in Negrar di Valpolicella: A Window into the Past
In May 2020, the quiet Italian village of Negrar di Valpolicella, nestled in the wine-producing region near Verona, became the site of a remarkable archaeological discovery. Beneath the lush rows of a vineyard, a beautifully preserved Roman mosaic floor, dating back to the 3rd century AD, was unearthed. This finding, hailed as one of the most significant in the region, provided a rare and vivid glimpse into the ancient world and the lives of those who once walked these lands. The discovery of the mosaic was not entirely unexpected. Archaeologists had long suspected that a Roman villa lay buried beneath the fields of Negrar di Valpolicella. The first traces of the ancient structure were identified more than a century ago, in 1922, during an initial excavation. However, despite this early finding, efforts to locate the villa's remains had been sporadic and largely unsuccessful—until 2020, when a team from the Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape of Verona finally s