As promised, Wednesdays will be devoted to Roman streets with interesting names, and this week's street is a foot fetishist's dream.
Via del Piè di Marmo, or Marble Foot Street, is little more than a alley, an tiny back street that is often not even marked on maps. But there is a rather large and ancient artifact that lives there.
The marble foot in question, about the size of a Fiat 500, once belonged to to a colossal statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis. On the site of the nearby Collegio Romano, an ancient temple built by Emperor Domition and dedicated to the gods Isis and Serapis, once stood. The only known remnant of this temple is the goddess' foot, which was moved to its present location because it was holding up funeral processions that passed through Piazza del Collegio Romano.
Caspita! You have found big foot at last! Seriously, only in Rome does a statue of a foot that size look completely right! A presto!
ReplyDeleteIs it a good place to stay while in Rome?
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