Down Pompeii? The ruin of Italy's cultural heritage: "From ancient Rome to Renaissance Florence, some of the world's greatest treasures are falling into neglect.
Collapses at the ancient site of Pompeii underline what experts have been warning for years: Italy's priceless cultural heritage is slowly but surely disintegrating and the famous archeological site's decay is a metaphor for the nation.
With chunks falling off Rome's Colosseum and the seemingly inexorable decline and fall of Venice, the world looks on anxiously to see if the rot can be stopped. Few countries have a greater wealth of cultural and archaeological marvels than Italy, but experts warn that few nations are as complacent about them.
Outrage greeted news last month of the collapse the 2,000-year-old House of the Gladiators at Pompeii. For years, art historians have complained that the archaeological site just south of Naples was falling to bits. Inevitably, opposition newspapers such as La Repubblica, called the collapse a 'world scandal' and blamed the conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for cutting funding - and putting 'unqualified people' in charge of Italy's cultural heritage. For 'unqualified people' read: Sandro Bondi, the widely criticised Berlusconi loyalist and Culture Minister.
'We're stunned when some walls fall down. But these are ruins not systematically maintained, so the miracle is that so few of them collapse,' said Andrea Carandini, a world-renowned archaeologist who leads a panel of professional consultants in the Cultural Ministry. Even some members of the government were alarmed. Roberto Cecchi, undersecretary at the Culture Ministry, said there had been no effective, continuous maintenance at Pompeii in half a century."
No comments:
Post a Comment