Mouth of Truth Wheelchair Accessible Tours

Rome, as we know, is a city rich in history.

Many of its wonders visited today by millions of tourists come from history, movies, literature and legends.

One of these is the very famous Mouth of Truth ( Bocca della Verita' ) which, despite the concern for an unlikely bite, brings numerous people before it every day.

The origins of this masculine marble mask are quite clear: a drain, hence the holes in the nose, mouth and eyes, or cloaca in ancient latin.

The dimensions are truly impressive: 1.80 meters in diameter for a weight of over 1,300 kg.

It was the film Roman Holiday that made him immortal in 1953: a sequence from the film with the two unforgettable protagonists Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck takes place right in front of the Mouth of Truth.

Touring Mouth of Truth

The Mouth of Truth is located in the pronaos of the Church of St Maria in Cosmedin, near Piazza della Bocca della Verità.

The square takes its name from the sculpture because until 1632 it was there that it could be admired and only after was it walled up under the porticoes of the church.

The face that is sculpted above it represents a river deity who "swallows" rainwater and makes it flow through the holes into the city sewers.

Some think it could instead be the face of a faun or of the god Portuno, deity of ports and doors.