The new restaurant is planned to be built between the third-century Baths of Caracalla and the capital’s ancient Aurelian Walls.
Although fully authorised by local authorities in the city’s Municipio 1 council, Raggi claimed she only became aware of the project after reading about it in a local newspaper on July 25.
Raggi is now demanding a suspension of the project and has called a meeting with developers, saying they need to rethink the plan, “evaluating all the risks that such a plan could generate at a very delicate site, bound by UNESCO”.
Raggi, of the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), has written to the president of Municipio 1, Sabrina Alfonsi, of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), outlining her concerns for “decorum, the image of the city and the balance of the historic centre’s delicate urban fabric”, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
The new a McDonald’s would be 800 square metres, with seating for 250 inside and outside.
The fast food giant claimed the new restaurant would create 60 jobs.
There are already several dozen McDonald’s restaurants in Rome.
