An ancient building dated back to the third century A.D. was discovered near the Old City of Jerusalem, said the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Monday.

The spacious edifice located in the City of David, an area just on the south of the Old City, was "apparently a mansion that belonged to a wealthy individual," and its structure and decorations and the artifacts found in the ruins bear clear witness to "the unequivocal Roman character of the building," said the IAA in a statement.

"Although we do not have the complete dimensions of the structure, we can cautiously estimate that the building covered an area of approximately 1,000 square meters," said Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, director of the excavation project.

"In the center of it was a large open courtyard surrounded by columns. Galleries were spread out between the rows of columns and the rooms that flanked the courtyard. The wings of the building rose to a height of two stories and were covered with tile roofs," added Ben-Ami.

In view of the large quantity of fresco fragments discovered at the site, the excavators deduced that some of the walls were treated with plaster and decorated with colorful paintings, said the statement, adding that the painted designs consisted mostly of geometric and floral motifs.

Among the many archaeological finds, the most outstanding are a marble figurine in the image of a boxer and a gold earring inlaid with precious stones, revealed the IAA.

Meanwhile, archaeologists said that the ruins showed that the building was shaken by a tremor in the fourth century.

"The coins that were discovered among the collapse and on the floors indicated the building's ruins should be dated to circa 360 C.E. It seems that what we have here is archaeological evidence of the results of the earthquake that struck our region in 363 C.E." said the IAA statement.