While excavating a new subway line in the heart of modern Rome, archaeologists discovered an artifact from the Italian city's past: a giant water basin.
The irrigation basin, which was found near the St. John in Lateran Basilica in modern Rome, measures an astounding 115 feet by 230 feet, making it the largest Roman water basin ever discovered.
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Rossella Rea, the dig's director, said the basin is so large it goes beyond the perimeter of the metro work site, and could hold more than one million gallons of water. It was likely used as a water reservoir for crops.
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