Colosseum is to be restored

The Colosseum is to be restored, protected and lit up permanently in a project starting later this year.
The 2,000-year-old symbol of Rome will be cleared of decades of grime, said Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, informs ansa.it.
The grungy and precarious state of the monument has been a "daily worry", Alemanno said.
The complete restoration of the almost 13,000 square meters of exterior walls will take some 20 million euros and about a year to complete.
Given the high cost, the project will be funded by private sponsors from Italy and abroad which Rome is already seeking. As well as the clean-up, unsightly barriers between the lowest arches will be removed and replaced by protective fences like the ones around the Roman Forum.
Then the monument, which is already lit up occasionally for special events, will get a permanent illumination system designed by a leading 'architect of light', Alemanno said.
The major project will follow work under way to open up and make safe the Colosseum-topping attic, with its Corinthian columns and small windows, as well as the third tier and, far below, the underground network of tunnels, whose remains are visible, that took gladiators and wild beasts up to the arena.

11.03.10