The face on the wall.
There are two stories circulating to explain the face on the wall. Pope Sixtus V (late 1500's) liked to dress down in disguise and mix with the local people. One night he went to this inn and tavern at Piazza Navona. The first account is that the innkeeper complained of the way things were going under Pope Sixtus' rule, not knowing that the Pope was sitting across the table from him. The next day, gallows were set up outside the inn and the innkeeper was executed on the spot. His friends had his likeness carved in marble and placed on the wall of the inn. The other account was that the face represented a waitress, seduced and then murdered by the same Pope. Her friends had her likeness carved in marble and placed beside her bedroom window.
The face on the wall.
There are two stories circulating to explain the face on the wall. Pope Sixtus V (late 1500's) liked to dress down in disguise and mix with the local people. One night he went to this inn and tavern at Piazza Navona. The first account is that the innkeeper complained of the way things were going under Pope Sixtus' rule, not knowing that the Pope was sitting across the table from him. The next day, gallows were set up outside the inn and the innkeeper was executed on the spot. His friends had his likeness carved in marble and placed on the wall of the inn. The other account was that the face represented a waitress, seduced and then murdered by the same Pope. Her friends had her likeness carved in marble and placed beside her bedroom window.