The incredible model city that took 38 years to create
AT FIRST glance this appears to be an aerial shot of a sprawling city. However, it’s a lot more fascinating than what first meets the eye.
WITH a series of intricate ruins, homes, waterways, bridges and other fascinating structures, at first glance this appears to be an aerial shot of a sprawling ancient city.
However this image actually shows a city on a much smaller scale, a 1:250 scale to be precise.
That’s because the incredible photo is actually of a model city that took a painstaking 38 years to build, allowing visitors to view Rome as it has never been seen before.
So yes, it turns out Rome really wasn’t built in a day.
The plaster model known as the Plastico di Roma Imperiale was commissioned by Mussolini in 1933, and was finally completed in 1971. Built by Italo Gismondi, the core was completed around 1950, and was then expanded to include the whole urban area within the Aurelian Walls.
The project was made more difficult due to a lack of accurate references — largely because of Mussolini’s own order to destroy many of the region’s houses to construct large roadways.
Located at the Museum of Roman Civilisation, the model allows the millions of visitors that flock to the city each year to be able to view Rome as it was in the 4th century.
It’s hard to miss, at an impressive 16x16m, and is constructed of approximately 150 frames and was even used in a few scenes of the movie Gladiator.
Impressive!
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