These incredible historical artifacts survived for centuries only to become part of the everyday world around them.
The Roman wall hidden in modern London
Sections of the wall that used to run around Roman Londinium survive today, among office blocks, modern roads and Tube stations. Londinium’s defensive wall was built around AD 200 and stretched for many kilometres around the perimeter of the city.
Remains can be seen around Tower Hill and elsewhere throughout the City of London, while smaller parts have been built into later medieval and modern buildings. Thousands commute past remains of Roman London that are just under 1,800 years old every day without necessarily realizing it.
Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park
Behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York’s Central Park sits an authentic ancient Egyptian obelisk named Cleopatra’s Needle. Originally erected at Heliopolis circa 1450 BC, it was built during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III. It was later relocated to Alexandria and then given to New York, where it was erected in 1881.
It stands at around 71 feet tall and weighs around 244 tons. It is the oldest man-made object in Central Park as well as the oldest monument in New York City that is located outdoors.
Contrary to its well-known name, it actually has nothing to do with Cleopatra. In fact, it was over a thousand years old by the time she was even born.
Roman ruins beneath a McDonald’s near Rome
At a McDonald’s near Frattocchie, south of Rome, customers dine above real Roman archaeological ruins. Glass flooring allows guests to look down into the ruins of an ancient Roman road and several Roman-era burials. When the ruins were discovered during construction, the developers preserved them under the restaurant and allowed guests to view them.
The Berlin Wall’s invisible line
A single stretch of cobblestones embedded into the streets and pavements of central Berlin marks part of the former route of the Berlin Wall.
Soon after the wall began falling in 1989, much of the concrete structure vanished so entirely that returning visitors might find themselves uncertain of where exactly East Berlin and West Berlin used to meet. Approximately 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) of former route through downtown Berlin is now quietly delineated this way.
The Holy Grail of Valencia
Valencia Cathedral’s Santo Cáliz (“Holy Chalice”) is among the world’s best-known relics claimed to be the Holy Grail. The upper part of the Santo Cáliz is made from agate and is shaped like a cup.
Archaeological analysis has dated it anywhere between the fourth century BC and the first century AD. It was made in the eastern Mediterranean, though this does not prove it was Jesus’s cup from the Last Supper. The chalice has been used for Mass by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.
The Roman milestones of the Appian Way
Roman milestones that once allowed travelers to calculate distance along the Appian Way still line much of the ancient Via Appia. Roman milestones called milliaria were typically placed every Roman mile (one thousand double paces) and frequently included the name of emperors or reference to road work.
Some have been relocated or substituted through the centuries, so not all of the stones remain where they were initially placed by Roman administrators. However, visitors to the Appian Way can still come across authentic relics of the route that facilitated the movement of soldiers, bureaucrats, traders and everyday citizens throughout Roman Italy.
The Liberty Bell’s sister bell
Few realize that America’s iconic Liberty Bell has an obscure counterpart still hanging in Philadelphia at St. Augustine Church. When the original Pennsylvania State House bell began experiencing problems, officials commissioned another bell from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London.
This bell arrived in Philadelphia in 1754 and was hung in the State House clock tower for use with the Liberty Bell that we know of today. It eventually became known as the “Sister Bell” and had an equally lengthy and checkered history before ending up at St. Augustine’s.
The Paris Meridian markers
Dotting the streets of Paris are tiny bronze discs inset into pavements, courtyards, and public areas. Engraved into each disc is the name ARAGO. Set into place during the 1990s as a tribute to French astronomer François Arago, the 135 discs mark the path of the Paris Meridian.
Before the internationally recognized prime meridian was established in Greenwich in 1884, France utilized the Paris Meridian as an important geographic and astronomical marker.
The discs cross through some of Paris’ busiest intersections, allowing pedestrians to stroll right over an important line in French history without realizing it.
The Roda Island Nilometer
There are few physical objects left that give us a window into the medieval world like the Nilometer at Cairo. Located on Roda Island toward the southern reaches of the city, it was built in AD 861.
The monument houses a deep shaft with a graduated stone column that officials used to measure the Nile’s levels: the height of annual flooding would herald bumper harvests or famine and often potential catastrophe. This information was used to help inform decisions regarding agricultural planning and taxation.
Roman amphitheatre beneath London
Londoners were unaware that beneath the Guildhall complex lay the remains of the Roman Londinium’s amphitheatre. Archaeologists did not recognise them until excavations started in 1988.
Constructed during Britain’s Roman occupation, the arena would have staged public spectacles for thousands of viewers. Today visitors can explore part of the remains underground, while Guildhall Yard features a dark curved line showing the arena’s edge overhead.
Medieval London Bridge stones in an Arizona desert
The London Bridge that now spans Lake Havasu City, Arizona really did once span the River Thames. Bridge owner Robert McCulloch bought the exterior granite blocks of the 19th-century London Bridge after it was replaced in 1968.
The stones were tagged, transported to Arizona, and re-assembled as facing for a newly built bridge. Today, tourists driving across London Bridge, Arizona are literally driving over parts of one of London’s most recognizable icons thousands of miles from home.
The ancient Egyptian obelisk in Istanbul’s Hippodrome
Currently sitting in Istanbul’s sprawling Sultanahmet Square is an authentic Egyptian obelisk that was originally carved and erected by Pharaoh Thutmose III in Karnak around 1,500 BC. Nearly 3,500 years later, it was taken to Constantinople and placed in the Hippodrome by Emperor Theodosius I around AD 390.
Every day, crowds of tourists, merchants, and passersby surround it, unaware that they’re standing next to a structure built thousands of years before Rome was even founded.
Roman arena underneath a shopping street in Lucca
Lucca’s oval-shaped Piazza dell’Anfiteatro was built on the remains of a Roman amphitheatre constructed around the 1st or 2nd century AD. When Rome began to decline, dwellings and stores were built into and above the amphitheatre, and Roman stonework can still be found in some of these structures. Now locals and visitors shop and dine at cafes that line the perimeter of a 2,000-year-old arena.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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