© Reuters
The Roman Pantheon
Visitors to Rome’s Pantheon, one of the best-preserved monuments from the ancient world, will have to pay a €5 entrance fee from Monday, Italy’s tourism ministry said.
Now a church, the huge former temple, whose intact outer wall supports a 43.3 meter high dome, attracts millions of visitors every year.
The long-delayed introduction of the fee is part of a drive to extract more profits from Italy’s cultural assets, with the tourism ministry set to receive 70% of the revenue to cover site cleaning and maintenance. The rest will go to the Diocese of Rome.
Entrance will be free for worshipers during the services.
Europe’s hopes for a busy tourist summer are fading
The Pantheon’s current shape and six-meter-thick walls date from the beginning of the reign of Emperor Hadrian, who came to power in 117. It remains the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world and has a circular skylight at its crown.
The building survived the barbarian attacks on Rome and was converted into a Christian church in 609.
Caring for art and architecture has long been a challenge for a country that is responsible for more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other and has long-standing problems with bureaucracy and insufficient public funding.
2023-06-30 19:25:21
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