There are few phrases more prosaic or uninspiring than “underground car park.” But it was the construction of just such a facility that led to the discovery in Rome of an archaeological treasure trove. Engineers who burrowed beneath a 19th century office block to make space for the parking lot stumbled across the remains of gardens, villas, pavilions, and water features that once made up a vast estate built for the emperors of ancient Rome 2,000 years ago.

After eight years of excavating the site and five years of cataloging the tens of thousands of artifacts that were found, the collection has now been turned into Italy’s newest museum and will open to the public on Nov. 6. Inviting visitors to an enclosed underground space would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, during the tougher days of the coronavirus pandemic.