
The Shape of Rome (2013) - benbreen
http://www.exurbe.com/?p=2219
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carlob
Next time you visit Rome and you find the subway system lacking, try imagining
how deep we need to go.

On a related note: Ikea was planning to open a shop in the outskirts of Rome
some 25 years ago. They had their store designed and just when they started
digging foundations they found roman remains. The whole store had to be
redesigned, raised one level and only then built. The process took 10
additional years, but now when you go to Ikea you can see some of the remains,
including a roman road in the parking lot underneath.

[http://ifg.uniurb.it/static/lavori-fine-
corso-2012/grifoni/2...](http://ifg.uniurb.it/static/lavori-fine-
corso-2012/grifoni/2012/04/28/la-musealizzazione-commerciale-lesempio-di-ikea-
anagnina/index.html)

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guard-of-terra
It's a blessing that most of roman ruins still stand relatively intact even
after applying two thousand years of human stupidity to them. For example,
they could definitely ruin a lot with an early subway.

And yes, it was kind of strange that Milan outran Rome in terms of subways.

On the other hand, Saint Petersburg is built on the swamp, and metro had to be
50+ meters deep and featured underground river flooding one of its tunnel for
10+ years. At least you're happy to have this place genuinely diggable.

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visarga
Wonderful. I had no idea when I visited Rome. I already considered it one of
the most beautiful cities ever made. At every street corner there can be a
wonderful church, or a great facade. It's surprise on top of surprise every
step you take.

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return0
And here's a 3d tour from the imperial times of this most historic of cities
from khan academy:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAgA6G75XsI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAgA6G75XsI)

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hobo_mark
I really hope that someone at magic leap is working on making 3d
reconstructions of ancient ruins explorable in real time and real space.

~~~
angrysponge
Hell yah! I'm forwarding your comment to my peeps there.

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peterwwillis
Hey, every history teacher: spend a day and read this page to your kids. Now I
want to visit Rome and see old crap!

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aruggirello
My favorite paragraph:

> Wandering a bit we find more modern additions, post-excavation. One of the
> most beloved 20th century heads of the Vatican Library has been buried here,
> just below the now-restored old altar of the lower church. And the tomb of
> St. Cyril [or possiby it contains Cyril and his brother Methodius – there is
> debate] is here. They are the creators of the Glagolitic alphabet (ancestor
> of the Cyrillic), surrounded by plaques and donations and tokens of
> thanksgiving from many Slavic countries who use that alphabet.

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knite
This is an absolutely marvelous bit of history!

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moebius
Great read!

(but sheesh... the site designer needs to fix those link styles.)

