In the town of Frattocchie, just south of Rome, you can now chow down on a Big Mac while looking under your feet, through a glass floor, and pondering an ancient Roman road.
MacDonald's actually built this fast food restaurant on top of and around the road, making this their very first fast food restaurant and quasi-museum, complete with tours.
But there's more... while the kiddies slurp their shakes, gulp their burgers and play with their Happy Meal booty, they can also gaze down at the 2000 year old skeletons of actual humans who apparently were cast aside into the road's culvert.
Perhaps they were slaves who died and were tossed away as garbage, or they were soldiers who succumbed to a long and brutal march, or simply died of eating the wrong thing at the wrong time.
The 150ft-long stretch of basalt road has been cleared, cleaned and made into a permanent attraction for customers, both inside and outside--under a glass floor. Tour guides take visitors under the floor to for a walk on the ancient pavement, but it's not clear if snacks are provided or food and drink is permitted.
The pathway branches off the famous Appian Way (originally known as Regina Viarum), which is widely regarded as Europe’s first super-highway, and was a significant communication link between the capital and its southern sectors.
McDonald's Italia funded the €300,000 ($315,000) restoration project and the result is considered to be the world's first “fast food restaurant-museum”, where guests will be able to see the ancient street while enjoying their burgers, thanks to a transparent floor.
Though McDonald's financed the restoration, the project was managed by Rome's Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape.
The truth is, finding ancient ruins while digging for new construction is not at all uncommon in Italy. The Roman Empire is literally everywhere... right under your feet.
