36 years it took the archaeologist to create the most accurate copy of the layout of Ancient Rome

Beautiful Rome has a rich and eventful history, during which it underwent many changes. Nevertheless, the ruins of many cult historical monuments to this day serve as a reminder and evidence of the greatness and glory of the eternal city. And today we have a chance to see how in the past a place looked that retained its power and instilled fear in other nations for thousands of years and even more.

This model of the city, stored in the Museum of Roman Civilization, has no equal. Thousands of people from all over the world come to take a look at Plastico di Roma Imperiale.

This plaster prototype shows in detail what was one of the most beautiful and powerful cities on earth in the 4th century CE, when Constantine I sat on the throne.

The creator of this amazing compact version of Rome is the archaeologist Italo Gismondi. This man literally recreated Rome from plaster on a scale of 1: 250. Gismondi began working on the project in 1935, and completed this incredible painstaking work more than 35 years later.

This period is three and a half times longer than the time taken to build the Coliseum. Now the layout is called one of the most important and reliable images of Ancient Rome.

However, this model is interesting not only for its grace, complexity and laboriousness, but also for the background of its creation. The customer of this plaster work of art was Mussolini. Thus, he wanted to honor the memory of Emperor Augustus. In addition, the era, the reconstruction of which was to be carried out by the master, was not chosen by chance at all: during the reign of Constantine, Rome reached its greatest scale.

In the process of creating the sample of Rome, Gismondi used the most accurate maps, and his work turned out to be so detailed that any part of the layout perfectly matches the map.

As a result, the gigantic mock-up with an area of more than two hundred square meters represents a visualization of Ancient Rome with perfection and accuracy, which can only be admired.