Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered the remains of the earliest known Christian church in the city of Oderzo, located about 40 miles northeast of Venice. The site, previously a fish market (pescheria), revealed a massive rectangular structure featuring a central aisle, two side aisles, and intricate polychrome mosaic floors.

Dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. during the Late Roman period, the church's foundations are up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) thick, constructed from brick bonded with mortar and resting on wooden piles driven into alluvial soil—a technique used in antiquity to enhance stability.

Alongside the church, archaeologists discovered four burials containing the remains of seven individuals. Anthropologists are currently studying these remains, with future specialized analyses expected to provide more information about the cemetery and those interred.

Evidence indicates that the church was eventually abandoned, stripped of building materials, and partially destroyed during the Middle Ages.

The discovery was announced in a June press release by the Archaeological Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan Area of Venice and the Provinces of Belluno, Padua, and Treviso. Officials noted that this find "opens a new chapter in the history of ancient Opitergium during the Late Roman and Early Medieval periods."

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