By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN
Rome (CNN) — The city of Rome has revealed for the first time the biggest Roman wall mosaic ever found, and a colorful fresco painted on a 2,000-year-old wall — the culmination of a massive 14-year restoration project.
Ten meters (33 feet) high and 16 meters (52 feet) long, the Great Mosaic, as it has been named, sits beneath the the Oppian Hill, where the emperor Nero built his famed golden house between 64 and 68 AD.
“We estimate that it is the biggest wall mosaic ever found in the Roman World and we are still digging to find out where it stops,” archaeologist Francesco Pacetti said at the unveiling of the site on Tuesday.
The archaeologists said it is unclear whether the mosaic, which also dates from the 1st century AD, was part of Nero’s lavish digs, or if it was built as part of a separate private dwelling that Nero eventually incorporated.
The entire area, a stone’s throw from the Colosseum, was converted into public baths in 109 AD by the emperor Trajan, and the older Great Mosaic and the nearby “Painted City” fresco would have featured as a backdrop for bathers.
Part of the mosaic, which was first discovered during excavations in the 1990s, could not be recovered, but what remains is a colorful scene.
It depicts a walled-in port city from a bird’s eye view, complete with public squares and towers that were not common during the 1st century AD.
The intricate details include blue and terracotta colors that have faded over time, depicting various scenes playing out in the port city — almost like a theatrical performance.
At the top of the mosaic are close ups of various characters as if they are watching the action below in the port.
They include a life-size bearded philosopher and his muse, several statues and a young poet, plus a theatrical stage with columns, garlands and vegetal swirls, all enhanced with blue and white marble and gemstones to create the effect of the sun shining on the sea.
Experts don’t yet know whether the scenes represent a utopian port city or a real place in the ancient Roman world.
“It could be a real place or an imagined city, we are not sure,” Pacetti said, adding that no known city has the same recognizable features, but that a port may have had them at the time when the mosaic was created.
The newly restored “Painted City” fresco, which sits between two pillars at the entrance to the area where the mosaic was found, was also discovered during excavations in the 1990s.
Also dated to the 1st century, the 10-square-meter (108-square-foot) fresco is as detailed as the mosaic, with scenes depicting a walled city, with a port entrance gate, roads, a theater and a temple.
Archaeologists are currently working to expose another area of the mosaic, which shows a grape harvest and wine-making.
The entire site, which encompasses the expansive 60,000-square-meter (15-acre) ruins of Trajan’s Baths and its exedra — a large semicircle supporting wall complete with cut-out shelves, suggesting the baths were also used as an ancient library — will soon be used to host book launches, in a nod to its original use as a library, Rome officials said.
Viewing walkways have been installed, as well as lighting that helps reveal the intricate details of both the mosaic and the fresco.
“We are giving this unique wonder back to the city,” Roberto Gualtieri, the mayor of Rome, said at the inauguration.
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