[HN Gopher] Rome is studded with cannon balls (2022)
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       Rome is studded with cannon balls (2022)
        
       Author : thomassmith65
       Score  : 95 points
       Date   : 2026-02-07 09:10 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (essenceofrome.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (essenceofrome.com)
        
       | sdgluck wrote:
       | Or Rome is the set of a real-life Truman Show.
        
       | lapetitejort wrote:
       | Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia also has cannonballs embedded
       | in the brick walls:
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Pulaski_National_Monument
        
         | kjs3 wrote:
         | 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 wrote:
         | 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 wrote:
         | Lewes Delaware has the Cannonball house which was struck in the
         | 1812 bombardment. Delightful town and beach, worth a visit.
        
       | brabel wrote:
       | Stockholm also has famous canon balls lodged on buildings in the
       | old town: 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 wrote:
         | 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 wrote:
           | > 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 wrote:
             | The Aurelian wall looks like a ball was grouted in as well.
        
       | mr_00ff00 wrote:
       | 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.
        
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       (page generated 2026-02-11 23:00 UTC)