4 ms·

Rome is studded with cannon balls (2022)

121 points by thomassmith65 8mo ago

sdgluck 8mo ago
Or Rome is the set of a real-life Truman Show.
lapetitejort 8mo ago
Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia also has cannonballs embedded in the brick walls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pulaski_National_Monument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pulaski_National_Monument
- kjs3 8mo ago
  Yup; it's a neat daytrip if you're in the area. But then Capt. Gillmore showed up with rifled cannons and showed why we don't use cannonballs any more. :-)
- csteubs 8mo ago
  VMI has a number of cannonballs embedded in the turrets on the backside of Old Barracks as well. They're more placeholders now than anything, but were left in situ after General Hunter shelled and burned the then-arsenal during the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. One of my favorite points of intrigue as a cadet tour guide long ago.
- jweir 8mo ago
  Lewes Delaware has the Cannonball house which was struck in the 1812 bombardment. Delightful town and beach, worth a visit.
brabel 8mo ago
Stockholm also has famous canon balls lodged on buildings in the old town: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stortorget-cannonball https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stortorget-cannonball They are supposed to be from the Blood Bath that happened there in the 16th century when Swedes and Danes still enjoyed killing each other frequently, but no wall survives this long with a metal ball in it, hence that’s apparently a fake thing by some smart 18th century building owners.
- FrontierProject 8mo ago
  Yeah nobody who's ever seen a ballistic object hit anything is going to mistake that first image for a cannonball that was actually fired at the wall.
  - luma 8mo ago
    > The cannonball crashed into the church and went through a first wall. It then ended on the altar of the Chapel of the Virgin. [...] The cannon ball was walled into the left wall of the Chapel and a commemorative epigraph was added to it. It wasn't showing the wall where it had crashed through, it's showing where the ball has been mounted into the wall for display.
    - kevin_thibedeau 8mo ago
      The Aurelian wall looks like a ball was grouted in as well.
  - edsfdfdfs 8mo ago
    my uncle is a highlander. he was there and he says its a real one
mr_00ff00 8mo ago
Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a time when Italy was the world’s Middle East (a collection of divided states where the great powers had their proxy wars) Not a surprise to see Rome have so many based on that.
upboundspiral 8mo ago
Edit: it seems one of the cannonballs comes from the siege of Rome during the unifaction of Italy. Echoing another comment, before unification, Italy (1860s) had its "warring states period". The North were independent small monarchies, including the Savoia, from which came the unification push with the help of Garibaldi. In center Italy the Church ruled with an iron fist. In fact, when Rome was besieged and the Church lost, all of Italy was excommunicated by the Pope. (They then bactracked on the policy once they saw people just kept going about with their lives). In the South was a repressed agricultural state that was so terrible to live under people invented something even worse: the mafia. (This is also why so many Italian Americans come from the South - they were escaping in search of a better life). A song (in Italian) somewhat about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaPh00AmDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaPh00AmDQ
ggm 8mo ago
Edinburgh has one, it's at the end of the esplanade in front of the castle (where the Edinburgh tattoo is held) embedded in a building wall and is frequently pointed out to visitors by local guides. It may have been placed there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_House_(Edinburgh) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_House_(Edinburgh)
metalman 8mo ago
Whenever I am in NYC, I play a game called find the bullet hole , which is startlingly easy to do. Taking the stairs in my uncles building it was clear that there had been a (or several) running gun battles up and down the stair well, and the spalling from small calliber rounds is just ignored and left, even in plate glass or store fronts.

121 points by thomassmith65 8mo ago

Or Rome is the set of a real-life Truman Show.

Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia also has cannonballs embedded in the brick walls: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pulaski_National_Monument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pulaski_National_Monument

kjs3 8mo ago
Yup; it's a neat daytrip if you're in the area. But then Capt. Gillmore showed up with rifled cannons and showed why we don't use cannonballs any more. :-)
csteubs 8mo ago
VMI has a number of cannonballs embedded in the turrets on the backside of Old Barracks as well. They're more placeholders now than anything, but were left in situ after General Hunter shelled and burned the then-arsenal during the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. One of my favorite points of intrigue as a cadet tour guide long ago.
jweir 8mo ago
Lewes Delaware has the Cannonball house which was struck in the 1812 bombardment. Delightful town and beach, worth a visit.

brabel 8mo ago

Stockholm also has famous canon balls lodged on buildings in the old town: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stortorget-cannonball https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/stortorget-cannonball They are supposed to be from the Blood Bath that happened there in the 16th century when Swedes and Danes still enjoyed killing each other frequently, but no wall survives this long with a metal ball in it, hence that’s apparently a fake thing by some smart 18th century building owners.

FrontierProject 8mo ago
Yeah nobody who's ever seen a ballistic object hit anything is going to mistake that first image for a cannonball that was actually fired at the wall.
- luma 8mo ago
  > The cannonball crashed into the church and went through a first wall. It then ended on the altar of the Chapel of the Virgin. [...] The cannon ball was walled into the left wall of the Chapel and a commemorative epigraph was added to it. It wasn't showing the wall where it had crashed through, it's showing where the ball has been mounted into the wall for display.
  - kevin_thibedeau 8mo ago
    The Aurelian wall looks like a ball was grouted in as well.
- edsfdfdfs 8mo ago
  my uncle is a highlander. he was there and he says its a real one

mr_00ff00 8mo ago

Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a time when Italy was the world’s Middle East (a collection of divided states where the great powers had their proxy wars) Not a surprise to see Rome have so many based on that.

upboundspiral 8mo ago

Edit: it seems one of the cannonballs comes from the siege of Rome during the unifaction of Italy. Echoing another comment, before unification, Italy (1860s) had its "warring states period". The North were independent small monarchies, including the Savoia, from which came the unification push with the help of Garibaldi. In center Italy the Church ruled with an iron fist. In fact, when Rome was besieged and the Church lost, all of Italy was excommunicated by the Pope. (They then bactracked on the policy once they saw people just kept going about with their lives). In the South was a repressed agricultural state that was so terrible to live under people invented something even worse: the mafia. (This is also why so many Italian Americans come from the South - they were escaping in search of a better life). A song (in Italian) somewhat about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaPh00AmDQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poaPh00AmDQ

ggm 8mo ago

Edinburgh has one, it's at the end of the esplanade in front of the castle (where the Edinburgh tattoo is held) embedded in a building wall and is frequently pointed out to visitors by local guides. It may have been placed there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_House_(Edinburgh) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_House_(Edinburgh)

metalman 8mo ago

Whenever I am in NYC, I play a game called find the bullet hole , which is startlingly easy to do. Taking the stairs in my uncles building it was clear that there had been a (or several) running gun battles up and down the stair well, and the spalling from small calliber rounds is just ignored and left, even in plate glass or store fronts.