The Mouth of Truth

The Bocca della Verita - Mouth of Truth - is a roughly 2000-year-old marble disc about 1.75 meters across, set against the portico wall of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. The ancient relief probably depicts the river god Tiberinus or a sea deity and was likely originally a drain or fountain cover; it has been propped against the church wall since 1632. From the Middle Ages came the legend: anyone who tells a lie while putting their hand inside the open mouth will have it bitten off - hence the name, first attested in 1485. The Bocca became world-famous through the Audrey Hepburn-Gregory Peck scene in Roman Holiday (1953). A queue almost always forms today; the selfie is free, a small donation to the church appreciated.