A gaping sinkhole opened up in Rome and unveiled ancient paving stones dating back to the time of Caesar, reports said.

The massive hole unexpectedly gave in last weekend close to the steps of the Roman Temple and has created a new archeological wonder in the Eternal City, The Sun reported.

The stones appear to have been used to create streets around the Pantheon in 27 BC, about 20 years after Julius Caesar was assassinated, the outlet reported. They were later paved over during a series of construction projects in the first century AD.

The stones have been miraculously well preserved, largely because they were surrounded by pozzolan, a type of dirt that has high amounts of silicon dioxide, which absorbs excess moisture and prevents rot, the outlet said.

The street stones were made from travertine — a building material common in ancient Rome that was also used to make the Colosseum, the outlet said.

Back then, the material was easily sourced from quarries outside of the city, the outlet said.

Sinkholes are common in Rome, mostly in the eastern part of the city, because materials were “quarried in ancient times,” Geologist Stefania Nisio told the outlet Adnkronos.

In 2019, there were 100 sinkholes and 175 in 2018.

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