A gent in an outsized turban called Sior Rioba has been hanging out at the corner of Calle dei Mori since the Middle Ages. This is one of four such figures ringing the Campo dei Mori (Square of the Moors) – a misnomer, since these statues are believed to represent the Greek Mastelli family, 12th-century merchants from Morea. The Mastelli brothers became notorious for their eager participation in Doge Dandolo’s sacking of Constantinople and, according to legend, Mary Magdalene herself turned them into stone.
