McDONALD'S ARCHAEOLOGY
The McDonald restaurant on the Via Appia some 20 kms south of Rome has finally opened the archaeological treasure under its foundations on a daily basis. The 45 m tract of well-preserved 1st-2nd BC century Roma road, flanked by raised pavements and complete with three skeletons, was first excavated in 2017 but for much of the intervening years restaurant patrons were only able to admire it through a long glass panel in the floor.
Entrance by an outside staircase is now available on a daily basis without the need to enter the fast food temple.
The restoration project of the site was funded by McDonald's but effected under the stern eye of the Rome Superintendency for Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape, with praiseworthy results.
At the moment the fast food giant has 630 outlets in Italy and expansion plans are forging ahead, with the announced goal of opening a further 200 new restaurants by 2025. A request to build a restaurant next to the important archaeological site of the Baths of Caracalla at the beginning of the Old Appian Way was, however, turned down as “inappropriate” by Rome authorities in December 2021 and Florence is facing a lawsuit for withdrawing permission to open up in the Piazza del Duomo.
Text & Photos M, Stenhouse
Info: www.mcdonalds.it
