We are driven by a passion'

Looking towards the semicircular apse with a frescoed image of a partially identifiable Christ on a throne staring back at them, the archaeologists crouching in the small space deep beneath a residential building in Naples were left speechless.

- Angela Giuffrida

They were amid the remains of an 11th-century church.

The archaeologists, however, could not take the credit: the historic jewel, which had just been seized by police, was dug up by tombaroli, or tomb-raiders, illicit gangs who for decades have been plundering Italian cultural sites, in turn fuelling the global market for stolen art and antiquities.

Investigators believe the group's leader was a local entrepreneur, currently under investigation, who owns two apartments in the building above. His cellar was turned into a well-organised excavation site, from where the tomb-raiders dug a warren of tunnels leading them about eight metres down into ancient Naples, where they unearthed medieval art from under the heart of the southern Italian city.

But impressive though their workmanship was - they even installed concrete pillars to prevent the structure from collapsing - officers from the Naples unit of Italy's carabinieri cultural heritage protection squad unmasked the gang and confiscated the church after a covert investigation.