Umbilicus Italiae - The disputed geographic center, or "navel," of Italy
THE LOCATION OF ITALY’S true geographic center has obsessed writers since Roman times. Marcus Terrentius Varro (who was born in Rieti, then known as Reatae) claimed that his home region was Italy’s ombelicus (navel). Initially, the site was believed to be the nearby Lake of Paterno, sacred to the ancient Sabine people, which Pliny also cites in his...
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Kobe Bryant's No. 24 jersey retired at Italian stadium where his father played basketball
Kobe Bryant’s No. 24 jersey was hoisted to the rafters of the arena in Italy where his father, Joe, played after he retired from the NBA and moved his family to Europe in the 1980s. The central Italian city of Rieti became the Bryant family’s first Italian home when Joe Bryant signed for the local team AMG Sebastiani Rieti in 1984, when six-year-ol...
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