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CULTURE

WATCH: Italian cultural police discover ancient Roman ship

Italian authorities have uncovered a centuries-old Roman vessel carrying hundreds of jars off the coast of Italy. Watch the discovery in this video.

WATCH: Italian cultural police discover ancient Roman ship
Italian authorities find ancient cargo at the bottom of the sea, off Italy's coast. Photo by The Journal of Cultural Heritage/YouTube

Archaeologists have found an ancient cargo ship full of hundreds of jars at the bottom of the sea off the coast of Civitavecchia, a port town about 70 kilometres north-west of Rome.

The ship, known as an oneraria, was said to date back to the 1st or 2nd century AD and experts estimates that it measured over 20 metres long.

READ ALSO: ‘A great shock’: How archaeologists unearthed Rome’s legendary Theatre of Nero

Archaeologists from Italy’s cultural heritage protection police squad, or Carabinieri Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale (TPC), made the discovery along with scuba divers from the national superintendency for underwater cultural heritage, an institution that protects and regulates underwater heritage sites.

Most of the jars, or amphorae, were reportedly intact, and heritage experts were still working out exactly what they were used for.

“This exceptional discovery represents an important example of the sinking of a Roman ship which faced the perils of the sea in an attempt to reach the coast and bears witness to the ancient maritime trade routes,” the cultural heritage protection police unit said in a statement.

The wreck was still anchored to the sandy seabed, lying at a depth of 160 metres.

As can be seen in the police video below, the team used a remotely operated robot to make the discovery and map the underwater archaeological site.

Watch how the experts made the discovery here:

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CULTURE

Italian opera celebrated in Verona’s ‘magical’ Arena

Verona's ancient Roman Arena will host a star-studded classical concert on Friday to celebrate the addition of Italian opera singing to UNESCO's list of intangible global heritage.

Italian opera celebrated in Verona's 'magical' Arena

Some of the world’s finest singers will perform arias, including Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, French baritone Ludovic Tezier and Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto.

More than 10,000 people will attend the concert at the Arena, the largest open-air theatre in the world.

Italian opera was added to the UN’s heritage list in December.

The citation acknowledged it as an art associated with specific facial expressions and body gestures involving a combination of music, drama, acting and staging.

“Italian opera is our common ancestor,” baritone Tezier told AFP. “Opera is an Italian invention which has spread all over the world.”

Conductor Riccardo Muti will direct 160 orchestra musicians and more than 300 choristers from prestigious Italian institutes such as La Scala in Milan and La Fenice in Venice.

The programme includes arias from Madame Butterfly, La Boheme and Tosca, all by Giacomo Puccini and marking the centenary of his death.

But there will also be extracts from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata and Rigoletto.

‘Like a gladiator’

“There is a real vocal pleasure in Italian singing because the Italian language is itself extremely musical and sonorous,” Tezier said.

Verona’s Arena offered the ideal setting, he added: its atmosphere “is warm, conducive to opera. We experience truly magical moments.

“When you enter the arena, with this huge audience in front of you, you have a feeling of humility, you have the impression of being very small.

“But at the same time you feel like a gladiator going into battle because there is an exceptional energy that emanates from this place”.

The Arena in the northeastern Italian city was built in the first century AD to entertain Romans with gladiator fights, spectacular shows featuring wild beasts, and even naval battles.

The concert, which will be broadcast live, kicks off the 101st edition of the Verona Arena Opera Festival, which runs to September 7 and is expected to draw over 500,000 music lovers.

The festival was created on August 10, 1913 by the Veronese tenor Giovanni Zenatello. He the stone amphitheatre’s remarkable acoustics when he performed Verdi’s Aida there.

Opera came into being around 1600 in Florence, with the founding of an academy promoting an innovative combination of sung text and music.

The first great composer of opera is considered to be Italy’s Claudio Monteverdi, who lived from 1567 to 1643.

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