Bronze medallions from 1465 bearing the effigy of Pope Paul II have been discovered buried in the foundations of a building during construction of a new Metro station in Piazza Venezia in the historic center of Rome. The commemorative medallions were found inside a terracotta pot and were hidden in the foundations of the Palazzetto Venezia during its construction as an auspicious practice.The Palazzetto Venezia was commissioned by Paul II in 1467 and stood next to its big brother the Palazzo Venezia. He lived in it for the rest of his papacy, even though it was only completed some years after his death by his nephew. It was removed and rebuilt on the other side of St. Marks Cathedral in the first decade of 20th century to make space for the construction the Victor Emmanuel Monument and the much-enlarged Piazza Venezia. It was lucky. Many other buildings from Papal Rome were demolished entirely.The Victor Emmanuel Monument was dedicated to the first king of a unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel I, and was conceived as a secular altar to the newly united kingdom. The Pope had held out for a decade after the rest of Italy was unified, refusing to allow Rome to be absorbed into the new nation as its capital. Ultimately the Eternal City was wrested from his grip by the Italian army in 1870, and there was still a great deal of anticlerical sentiment in the government when the monument was in the planning stages in the 1880s. Medieval and Renaissance buildings, many of them constructed by the popes, a convent, a church, whole blocks and streets, were razed. All told, almost five acres of Rome and even some ancient remains were leveled.Archaeologist of the city of Rome Rodolfo Lanciani, who had been vocally opposed to the demolitions, excavated the construction site. He reported finding similar pots containing coins and medallions, always three or five, in the foundations of the Palazzo Venezia. This is evidence of how widespread and consistent this ritual was, going back to antiquity.Confirmation also comes from the words of Marta Baumgartner, archaeologist of the Superintendency and scientific director of the excavation: Concealing these objects in the plinths of large and small buildings is an auspicious practice of a much older tradition, connected to a kind of foundation rite linked to the building of important complexes such as palaces and churches, for example, but which is also found, even today, in the most common private construction.The medals have been cleaned, and will now be conserved for their long-term stability. After conservation and study are complete, they will go on display in the new Metro station.