There are plenty of cities that could credibly claim to be the center of the world, but only one has gone through the trouble of marking the exact spot. The timeless city of Rome is home to the Umbilicus Urbis Romae (the "navel of the city of Rome"), a spot in the Roman Forum from which all distances in Rome and the Roman Empire were measured. It was situated in the Roman Forum where its remnants can still be seen. These remains are located beside the Arch of Septimius Severus, behind the Rostra. Originally covered in marble, the Umbilicus is now a forlorn-looking brick core some 2 metres high and 4.45 metres in diameter. Constructed by the Emperor Augustus around 20 B.C., it was once marked by a grand marble tower, but all that's left of it is a sad little pile of bricks with a plaque. Still, it represents an excellent starting point or endpoint for any Roman adventure.
Roman legend related that Romulus, when he founded the city, had a circular pit dug in the Forum. The first fruits of the year were thrown into this pit as a sacrifice and all new citizens of Rome had to throw in a handful of dirt from their place of origin.
The Mundus (Latin, “world”), known only from literary sources, was an underground structure considered a gate to the underworld. It may be that the Umbilicus Urbis Romae was the external (above ground) part of the subterranean Mundus. The Mundus was ritually opened only three times each year. These days were considered dies nefasti — days on which official transactions were forbidden on religious grounds —– because evil spirits of the underworld were thought to escape then.
Source: http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/7/112051/0405/travel/The+Belly+Button+of+the+World+and+Other+Neat+Facts+About+Rome
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