A mystery love letter has been discovered in the Colosseum where it was hidden 60 years ago. The letter, which dates back to the early 1950s, was written by Domenico and addressed to Franca.

Domenico wrote: «Tu ricordi della venuta a Roma il desiderio che non mi ha abbandonato/ che Franca mi ami quanto io amo lei. Domenico e Franca per tutta la vita/ ti amo ti amo ti amo più di me stesso».

The letter was found between two blocks of travertine by thrilled restorer Sonia Paola Lanzellotti who described it as an enormous surprise. Lanzellotti had been cleaning in between the pillars on the amphitheatre's first level and came across the folded letter concealed beside a bracket for protection.

The monument’s director Rossella Rea suggests that Domenico could have been employed as a restorer of the Colosseum in the 1950s and would have known where to best hide the letter in the "semi-abandoned" amphitheatre which still possessed an "aura of almost 19th-century romance".

After undergoing several weeks of restoration the letter has become part of the historical heritage of the Colosseum and Rea says that plans are in place to display the letter to the public soon.

It is not known whether Domenico or Franca are still alive.