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.

Plans to build a 32-storey office block in central London have unearthed the remains of a 2,000-year-old Roman Basilica.

The excavation of the building, which was established under Roman emperor Titus, has so far uncovered sections of stone wall that formed the base of the basilica, which would have been two-and-a-half storeys high.

Experts are surprised at how much of the basilica, or town hall, survived. The ancient building was part of Roman London’s political and commercial center.

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

While exploring the site of a 32-story planned skyscraper in London, archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman basilica.

The plan was to demolish the old office building at 85 Gracechurch Street in the heart of London’s financial district and construct a new 32-story tower in its place. But as demolition began, archaeologists made a staggering discovery in the site’s foundation: remarkably intact ruins of London’s first public building,