The first ever Etruscan pyramids have been located underneath a wine cellar in the city of Orvieto in central Italy. A team of Italian and US archeologists are working to uncover the remains of what has turned out to be an amazing discovery.

They discovered pyramids dating to at least the 5th Century BCE carved into the rock of the Tufa plateau ( a sedimentary  area that is a result of volcanic activity) on which Orvieto stands, the subterranean structures were largely filled. Only the top-most modern layer was visible.

The archaeologists and students uncovered a series of Etruscan tunnels, 5th century BCE Etruscan pottery, as well as material dating back to 1200 BCE. George believes the subterranean pyramids were likely tombs or part of a sanctuary. He says there are no parallels to this anywhere in Italy.

“We know its not a quarry or a cistern; the walls are too well dressed to be a quarry and there is no evidence of mud which would point to a cistern. That leaves just a couple of things, some sort of a religious structure or a tomb, both of which are without precedent here,” says George.

At the time of their discovery, the structures were filled, covered by a top floor that had been modified for modern use, most currently, a wine cellar. Upon noting some Etruscan construction techniques in the stone stairwell, Drs. George and Bizzarri obtained a permit to dig deeper.

As they started digging, David B.George of the Department of Classics at Saint Anselm and co-director of the excavation Claudio Bizzarri of the Parco Archeologico Ambientale dell'Orvietano noted that the cave's walls were tapered up in a pyramidal fashion. Intriguingly, a series of tunnels, again of Etruscan construction, ran underneath the wine cellar hinting to the possibility of deeper undiscovered structures below.

Excavation of the site began on May 21 where the group dug through a mid 20th century floor reaching a medieval floor. Immediately beneath this subfloor, George and Bizzarri with their team excavated a layer of fill containing materials and artifacts ranging from the middle of the 5th century BCE to 1000 BCE.

Digging through this layer, the archaeologists found 5 feet of gray sterile fill, which was intentionally deposited from a hole in the top of the structure.

"Below that material there was a brown layer that we are currently excavating. Intriguingly, the stone carved stairs run down the wall as we continue digging. We still don't know where they are going to take us," Bizzarri told Discovery News.

The material from the deepest level reached so far (the archaeologists have pushed down about 10 feet) dates to around the middle of the fifth century B.C.

"At this level we found a tunnel running to another pyramidal structure and dating from before the 5th century B.C. which adds to the mystery," George said.

According to Bizzarri, there are at least five Etruscan pyramids under the city. Three of these structures have yet to be excavated

According to George, the underground pyramids could represent some sort of a religious structure or a tomb. In both cases, it would be a discovery without precedent.

"Most likely, the answer waits at the bottom. The problem is we don't really know how much we have to dig to get down there," Bizzarri said.

The site will sit idle until May 2013, when Drs. George and Bizzarri return with their crews.

Etruscan tribes are one of the biggest mysteries of antiquity for the scientists.

The Etruscans were a pre-Roman civilization who lived in Etruria, in what is now western Umbria, southern Tuscany, and northern Lazio. They created a well-developed culture, which exerted great influence on the Roman civilization. The Romans borrowed engineering art from the Etruscans, a part of religious ceremonies and even gladiator fights.

Known for their art, agriculture, fine metalworking and commerce, they flourished atound 900 B.C. and started to decline during the fifth century B.C., as the Romans grew in power. By 300-100 B.C., they eventually became absorbed into the Roman empire.

One of the top Etruscan places to visit today is Cerveteri and the surrounding area.

The work will be funded by private money from ‘Italian shoe magnate’ Diego delle Valle. Eighteen months after first getting the green light to restore the Colosseum and despite bureaucratic glitches and an investigation by the Court of Auditors and Rome’s public prosecutor, it looks like Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of Tod’s SpA, will finally be able to see work begin on the historic amphitheater. A press conference to kick off the project, solely sponsored by Tod’s, will be held July 31 at the monument.

The mayor declared this ‘a great victory for Rome and for culture’ and it would appear that there have been no modifications to the originally submitted plans and schedules. There are six distinct building sites/projects, each of which is expected to take 24 to 36 months each to complete – three will be running alongside each other at a time. So that means 4 to 6 years of work, it would seem.

At no time has there been any mention of any part of the Colosseum being closed to visitors, so take the opporunity to discover the Colosseum and the rest of the Ancien City with one of our Tours.

his would confirm Benedict XVI’s tendency to never leave the College of Cardinals overly weakened, in case of a possible conclave. Benedict XVIwas 84 last April; he carefully guards his energies and is continuously monitored by his medical team (who found some of his numbers inching too high over the past few weeks, and advised him to start eating a special diet), so it’s reasonable to think that his reign will continue. But he is still well past 80 years old, with a spotty medical history.

The maximum number of voting cardinals (that is, those who are not yet 80) is 120. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the number of voting cardinals will be 105 by the end of the year – within six months. That number will drop to 99 by June 2012, and 92 by the end of 2012. This is why it is extremely likely that Pope Ratzinger will distribute a certain number of berrettas, the traditional headgear of short-term cardinals.

Also because of the most recent Consistory of 20 November 2011, he left several names, countries, and continents on the waiting list. The biggest question mark is over some excellent names and dioceses. For example: New York, Turin, Florence, Toledo, and Quebec. It was the Holy See’s running policy (though not always respected) not to make the head of a diocese a cardinal if his predecessor, no longer governor of the diocese itself, is not yet 80 years old and therefore excluded from the list of those who might choose the next pope.

In Italy, this policy is not always respected. When a new Archbishop of Genoa - Angelo Bagnasco – was appointed, he received the berretta even though his predecessor, Tarcisio Bertone, was well under 80 (and still is) and worked in the Vatican as Secretary of State to Benedict XVI. However, in the last batch of cardinals Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, was not elevated to cardinal, even though his predecessor Ennio Antonelli held an important position in the Vatican. An analogous situation is that of Gerard Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec - Marc Quellet, his predecessor, is the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops. Similarly at Toledo, Braulio Rodriguez Plaza has a predecessor cardinal, Canizares Llovera, who is, however, at the Vatican leading the Congregation for Divine Worship. If the rule applied to Bagnasco and Bertone is judged applicable for them as well, it could trigger possible appointments. The situation of Cesare Nosiglia of Turin is more complex - the former Savoy capital already has a cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus Severino Poletto, who will be 80 years old in 2013. Meanwhile, it is quite likely that Timothy Michael Dolan, the pugnacious Archbishop of New York and President of the Conference of Bishops, will receive the berretta. It is true he has a predecessor in the diocese, Edward Michael Egan, who will turn 80 in April of 2012. And the sympathy with which Benedict XVI regards the American Church - and Dolan in particular – is well-known. The archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and his predecessor Murphy O'Connor found themselves in the same position as Dolan and Egan. It looks likely that Nichols too will be receiving a biretta.

A nearly certain appointment in the next Consistory is that of Ricardo Ezzati, the Salesian Archbishop of Santiago, as well as that of Bechara Rai, the newly-elected leader of the Maronites in Lebanon. Another likely candidate is the Archbishop of Managua, Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano. But not counting the Curia, where some old and new heads of departments await the berretta (a sure thing for Brazilian João Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life), Taiwan and Thailand expect a cardinal, and in Africa, some countries that are without a cardinal - Angola, Mozambique, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Cameroon – can have some uncertain hope.

The megamarket, which already has shops in north Italy, New York and Tokyo, has transformed the vast domed building into a food connoisseur's haven, with dozens of tasting stands and restaurants as well as culinary exhibitions and projects.

Welcome to the biggest place in the world dedicated to Italian food. Make it a stop between the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums Guided Tour.

Lungo il Tevere Roma, tra Ponte Sisto e Ponte Palatino, nota ai più come Tevere Expo, è uno degli appuntamenti più frequentati e conosciuti dell' estate romana. Ogni anno l'evento si rinnova e a partire dal mese di giugno fino alle prime settimane di settembre intrattiene cittadini e turisti con un'eterogenea serie di eventi gratuiti.

The Roman tomb of the Scipioni, a family of war heroes and generals, the most famous being Scipio Africanus who beat Hannibal, opens to the public again after twenty years of restoration.

The Roman tomb of the Scipioni, belonged to one of the most ancient and famous patrician families of the Roman Republican Age, the Cornelii Scipiones, a family of war heroes and generals, the most famous being Scipio Africanus, who beat Hannibal, is set to open to the public again after twenty years of restoration.

The tomb was dug out of the tuff bank at the beginning of the third century BC and consists internally of a square room with four large pillars at the center spared by the tuff that divide the room in four galleries. The sarcophagi were placed within spaces dug out specially for them along the walls and the pillars. The sarcophagus of the founder of the family Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, consul in 298 BC (whose original is now in the Vatican Museums), is situated at the end of the central corridor in front of the entrance. Around the middle of the second century the tomb was enlarged by digging out a smaller single room next to the first one. The external facade also dates back to this period. It consists of a high base with a moulded frame and is surmounted by a prospect of six semicolumns that framed three niches, where the statues of the poet Ennius, Scipio Africanus and Scipio Aemilianus were probably placed.

The base was decorated with paintings of historical scenes and a stylized wave motif. Traces of the decorations remain. Three arched doors open on the same base: a blind door (now replaced by a passage that leads to a medieval calcar that has partly damaged the tomb), a central door that led into the more ancient tomb and a door on the right (the only one still preserved) that accesses the more recent tomb. When the Cornelii Scipiones family died away at the beginning of the empire, the tomb was reused shortly in the Julian-Claudian Age (beginning of the first century AD) by their heirs the Cornelii Lentuli that used some of the loculi for cremations.

The tomb, which originally lay under a temple,  was discovered by chance in 1614. A new discovery took place in 1780 by the owners of the land where the tomb is situated.

The Scipio family held high political and military positions, but its most famous member, Scipio Africanus, is absent from the tomb.

The general, who was hailed for defeating Hannibal to end the second Punic War against Carthage, was later accused of stealing public money and he left Rome for Liternum, in the modern-day region of Naples.

The epitaph on his tomb outside Rome says: "Ungrateful fatherland, you will never have my bones."

The redevelopment works have made the public access route easier as well as safer, by replacing the metal support structures installed during restoration works carried out during the last century. There are new reception services and information panels illustrate the archaeological remains.

From 2012, on an experimental basis, the area will be open to the public with guided tours by booking only.

Mass of thanksgiving

 It has been decided that during the year following the Beatification of John Paul ii, that is, until 1 May 2012, it will be possible to celebrate a Holy Mass of thanksgiving in certain places and on certain days. The responsibility of establishing the day or days as well as the place or places for gathering the People of God for this purpose belongs to the Diocesan Bishop. Having considered the local needs and pastoral benefits, one Holy Mass in honour of the new Blessed may be celebrated on any Sunday during the year or on another day of the week designated in numbers 10-13 of the Table of Liturgical Days.

Similarly, in religious communities, it is the responsibility of the Superior General to establish the days and places of such celebrations for the entire religious community.

As far as regards the celebration of Mass, besides the permission to sing the Gloria, the appropriate collect is to be prayed in honour of the Blessed; the other prayers, as well as the Preface, the Antiphons, and the Readings, are to be taken from the “Common of Pastors: For a Pope”. If the celebration falls on a Sunday in Ordinary Time, appropriate texts for the First Reading, Responsorial Psalm, and Gospel may be taken from the “Common of Pastors”.

Inserting the new Blessed into local liturgical calendars

The annual celebration of Blessed John Paul II is to be inserted into the liturgical calendars of the Diocese of Rome and all the Dioceses of Poland as a “memorial” to be observed on 22 October.

As for the liturgical texts, the Collect and the second reading of the Office of Readings, together with its Response, are to be inserted into the “Proper of Saints”. The other texts are to be taken from the “Common of Pastors: For a Pope”.

With regard to other local calendars, any request that the celebration Blessed John Paul II be observed as an Optional Memorial is to be submitted to this Congregation by a local Conference of Bishops when it involves an entire territory, a Diocesan Bishop when it involves an individual dioceses, and a Superior General when the request pertains to a religious community.

Dedicating a church to God in honour of the new Blessed

An indult of the Apostolic See is needed to dedicate a church in honour of Blessed John Paul II (cf.Ordo dedicationis ecclesiae, Praenotanda, n. 4) unless a celebration in his memory has already been inserted into the local calendar; in this case the indult is not necessary and the memorial is elevated to a liturgical Feast in the church named for the Blessed (cf. Congregatio de Cultu Divino Sacramentorum, Notificatio de cultu Beatorum, 21 May 1999, n. 9).

All things to the contrary notwithstanding.

From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 2 April 2011.