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

The excavated remains in London consist of the Kentish limestone foundations of a massive two-story Roman basilica, where officials would have made key political and legal decisions. View on euronews

Archaeologists have found “the heart of Roman London,” the remains of the city’s first basilica, underneath an office building.

An office building from the 1930s in London was about to be demolished — until remnants of the city’s first Roman basilica were found in the basement.

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 as Londinium.