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| Bits are falling off ancient Pompeii right, left and center, note the overhead electricity cables |
Italy will spend one billion euros to restore an unparalleled but often neglected collection of monuments, museums and ancient sites, in the biggest such investment for decades, the government announced on Monday. The money will be spent on restoring and maintaining the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence and museums in Rome and Naples. [...] Past governments have frequently made grandiose promises to inject much-needed funds into the country’s archaeological and historical sites, but the administration of Matteo Renzi, the prime minister, insisted that this time the money really will materialise. “This is the biggest investment in Italy’s cultural heritage in the history of the republic,” said Dario Franceschini, the culture minister, referring to the foundation of the modern Italian state in 1946, when the monarchy was abolished. “These projects will start straightaway. These are not just announcements, but initiatives that have already been deliberated and financed.” A total of 33 cultural sites will benefit from the money, which will come from regular government budgets.If Italy's past record is anything to go by, it will not be long before we hear of most of this money disappearing before any real progress is made. Pompeii is falling apart, despite the money that has been ineffectively spent there by a succession of corrupt Italian politicians. See an interesting article here, written three years ago: The six things wrong with Italy – and how to solve them. What has changed since then? Renzi replaces Enrico Letta who stayed in power just one year, who knows how long he will last, despite his populist pledge to defend Italian national culture? Maybe the preservation of sites needs to be placed in private, rather than central government, hands? They will do the job much more efficiently.
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