- In 2014, during construction on a McDonald’s in Italy, workers found an ancient road.
- McDonald’s Italia supported restoration work on the road before building the restaurant over it.
- Visitors to the restaurant in Frattocchie can see the road and skeletons among its stones.
From the outside, this McDonald’s in Italy may seem like a regular restaurant, but walk past its gates and over its glass flooring, and you’ll spot some eerie details, like three skeletons embedded in the rocks below.
In 2014, workers building the restaurant on the outskirts of Rome stumbled upon an ancient Roman road.
Such finds can usually halt the construction process, but in this case, “McDonald’s integrated the archaeological site into the design of the restaurant, spending about 300,000 euros [$315,000] to enclose the ancient road in its own gallery,” wrote author Gary He in his new book, “McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches,” which comes out later this month.
The result is what McDonald’s Italia’s managing director Mario Federico described as the chain’s “first museum-restaurant.”
Global brands and luxury fashion houses have been known to contribute to Italy’s restoration efforts, with Bulgari, Fendi, and Tod’s helping fund work on the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, and the Colosseum, respectively.
Apart from offering brands visibility, participating in such efforts “is a good example of how the public and private sectors can collaborate effectively on reclaiming cultural heritage,” Federico told The Daily Telegraph.
Here’s a closer look at this one-of-a-kind McDonald’s.
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