For more than 50 years, this optician's office has been on the corner of a busy touristy street in Rome. And while it may look like another hole-in-the-wall store, its list of clients includes Pope Francis.
ALESSANDRO SPIEZIA
Owner, Spiezia Ottica
We have this friendship of sympathy. I mean I am really lucky because—maybe I won't use the word friend because that is a strong word—but to have this trust with His Holiness is something wonderful, something wonderful for which I thank the Lord.
Almost a decade ago, Pope Francis' secretary asked Alessandro to repair the Pope's glasses and from there this unique relationship grew. Now, the Pope has ventured outside the Vatican twice for an appointment here.
ALESSANDRO SPIEZIA
Owner, Spiezia Ottica
He is always a really unique character. I have always called him the father of the world. He is not the pope…he is the world's father. Because he loves us all and, in my opinion, he has his own way of showing affection towards everything and everybody.
But the family's relationship with the Vatican goes back before Francis. Alessandro and his son, Luca, had the opportunity to perform eye exams and make glasses for two other popes: Benedict XVI and John Paul II.
ALESSANDRO SPIEZIA
Owner, Spiezia Ottica
Pope Wojtyla had a somewhat peculiar defect, in the sense that it was amblyopia, meaning one eye was far-sighted and the other near-sighted, so that in the end, you wear only wear glasses at certain times.
The Spiezia Optician's office has come a long way since Alessandro opened it in 1967. From being trusted by three popes to even making glasses for the Italian director, Federico Fellini.
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