For Romans, the daily commute will never be the same again. The city on Friday unveiled a brand new underground station that boasts a trove of archeological treasures that were found during its construction.

They range from iron spearheads and gold coins decorated with emperors’ heads to a delicate perfume bottle made from turquoise glass and marble statues of scantily-clad nymphs.

There are giant amphorae, bronze fish hooks from an ancient Roman fish farm, the remains of a first century BC woven basket and even a collection of 2,000 year old peach stones, from when the area was a rich farming estate providing food for the imperial elite.

They are all displayed in softly-lit glass-fronted panels throughout San Giovanni metro station, located a couple of hundred yards from the grand papal basilica of St John in Lateran and close to the capital’s historic centre.

As passengers descend the station’s stairways, they will travel back in time, from the Middle Ages to Imperial Rome and right back to Republican Rome. The deeper they get, the further back in history they go.