The 2,000-year-old basilica was “once the beating heart of Roman London,” the Museum of London Archaeology said.

Work to give 21st-century London yet another skyscraper has uncovered traces — in fact chunks — of the city’s origins almost 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists exploring the site of a planned 32-story office tower announced Thursday that they have unearthed the remains of a Roman basilica that once stood at the heart of the city known

Experts are surprised at how much of the basilica, or town hall, survived. The ancient building was part of Roman London’s political and commercial center.

In the basement of an office building in London’s financial district, the ruins of an ancient Roman basilica were found buried beneath old filing cabinets and concrete floors. Archaeologists are calling it one of the most exciting recent discoveries in the British capital.

While exploring the site of a 32-story planned skyscraper in London, archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman basilica.

The remains of an ancient basilica that would have formed the heart of Roman London have been uncovered during building work in the center of the British capital.