Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Tuesday opened two new stations on the C line of the city's metro system, the Colosseo and Porta Metroni 'archeostations', so named because an array of the archaeological riches uncovered during their construction are on display in them.
    Gualtieri said the new stations were "full-blown tourist and cultural attractions" in their own right.
    "The challenge was to combine extraordinary archaeological heritage with engineering works," he said.
    "Thanks to major projects like this, we are also rediscovering layers of the past that we would never have known about".
    A museum at the Porta Metronia stop featuring the remains of a second century AD barracks, however, will not be ready to receive visitors for several months yet.
    Tuesday's inaugurations come after 13 years of work and many delays, in part due to the wealth of archaeological material the project ran into.
    The new stations significantly improve the Italian capital's metro system.
    They extended the C line, which runs from Pantono in east of the city, from its previous terminus at San Giovanni, where it connects with the A line.
    Thanks to its arrival at the Colosseo stop, it now connects to the B line too.
    In the future it will also go to the new station at Piazza Venezia and eventually connect to the planned D line.

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