Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CULTURE

Italy lovers asked to help save crumbling treasures

The decaying bedroom of a Pompeii home, including a graffito perhaps scrawled by Emperor Julius Caeser's second wife, could finally get the restoration it deserves. If enough people donate online, that is.

Published: 20 October 2015 16:07 CEST
Italy lovers asked to help save crumbling treasures
The association LoveItaly is trying to fund restorations of Italian sites via a crowdfunding campaign. Photo: Roberto Salamone/AFP

That an archaeological site like the cubiculum in Pompeii's House of the Centaur might be left to ruin is indicative of a fundamental problem for Italy: its cultural heritage is too large.

Finding the funds to maintain and support such a rich patrimony is a challenge for local councils and tourism boards across country. But that could be about to change thanks to a new non-profit organization called LoveItaly.

LoveItaly is a crowdfunding platform, curated by a cross disciplinary group of experts. It is seeking to raise money for restoration projects on neglected Italian treasures from history buffs and Italophiles around the globe.

One of its first projects will be the ambitious restoration of the crumbling, second-century BC bedroom in the House of the Centaur at Pompeii. However, before work can commence the organization needs to come up with the €53,000 archaeologists at Pompeii have quoted for the restoration.


State of disrepair: the crumbling interior of the bedroom in the Domus of the Centaur Photo: LoveItaly

So where might the cash come from?

“There are many people in many countries who love Italy,” Tracy Roberts, the vice-president and co-founder of LoveItaly told reporters in Rome on Tuesday.
 
“We are trying to create an international movement.”

Through its website, LoveItaly is asking people to donate upwards of €2, money which will be used to preserve Italy's cultural heritage for future generations.

Noble ambitions aside, many would argue that Italy's ruins already receive millions of euros in funding from private companies, EU taxes and tourist money each year.

“Unfortunately, Italian cultural heritage hasn't been managed in the right way,” Dr. Richard Hodges, an archaeology professor and LoveItaly president said.

LoveItaly, which believes in maximum transparency, hopes to change the management of Italy's cultural resources by working closely with young university students and innovative entrepreneurs when carrying out projects.
 

The platform promotes small-scale restoration projects, as projects over a certain cost must legally be put to public tender: a fact which has left them open to waste and corruption.

If crowdfunding can raise the funds to carry out restoration projects like the one it has planned for Pompeii, Hodges believes it could reap huge benefits for the Italian economy.


In 2012 Rome was the 12th most visited city in the world, while Frankfurt was ranked 8th in spite of possessing a mere fraction of the history that the Italian city can offer tourists.

“We need to exploit Italian cultural heritage by investing resources like money and young people into it to be sure that it lasts forever. 

“Culture is Italy's infinite oil reserve – one that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin would be all too happy to have.”

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

CULTURE

Updated: What is Italy’s Palio di Siena and where can you watch it?

Italy's hotly-anticipated Palio di Siena horse race is back - but what exactly is it and where can you watch it?

Published: 16 August 2024 12:10 CEST
Updated: What is Italy's Palio di Siena and where can you watch it?

The renowned Palio di Siena horse race returns on Saturday, August 17th, with jockeys racing it out in Tuscany’s medieval jewel, Siena.

With origins dating back to 1633, the Palio di Siena is Italy’s most famous historic horse race.

The event is a competition between the neighbourhoods of Siena, called contrade, with each contrada having its own coat of arms and patron saints. There are 17 contrade in Siena, but only 10 compete – this year’s competitors are; Chiocciola, Oca, Istrice, Selva, Lupa, Valdimontone, Onda, Nicchio, Leocorno and Civetta.

It occurs twice a year in Siena’s main square, Piazza del Campo. The first race took place this summer on July 2nd. Each Palio lasts a total of four days; three days of celebrations and the final day being the race itself.

The race consists of three laps of Piazza del Campo. The starting point (the mossa), is made up of two ropes in which the 10 participating horses and jockeys must wait in order. The horse, with or without a jockey, which completes the three laps first wins.

The prize is a large silk-painted canvas, known as the drappellone, which is designed and created every year by a different artist.

Over the centuries, the race has only been cancelled a handful of times, including for World War II and the Covid pandemic. 

In recent years the Palio has been the subject of protest from animal rights groups who state that the horses suffer during the competition. Preliminary investigations into a defamation trial began at the start of June this year, after Walter Caporale, the national president of animal rights group Animalisti Italiani (Italian Animalists) was accused of defining the event’s organisers as “sadistic and uncivilised.” The next hearing is set for February 28th 2025. 

The final race this year was supposed to take place on Friday, 16th August but it was cancelled due to heavy rain.

Watch the Palio di Siena live on television or via streaming on Italian channel LA7 from 4.45pm on Saturday.

Are you tuning in to the Palio di Siena? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

SHOW COMMENTS