CBCnews
Story Tools: EMAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK | Bookmark and Share

Ancient site of Pompeii declared a disaster zone

Last Updated: Saturday, July 5, 2008 | 11:13 AM ET

Frescoes at a brothel in the ancient Roman site of Pompeii, pictured in 2006. Local officials say they are losing 150 square metres of plasterwork every year.Frescoes at a brothel in the ancient Roman site of Pompeii, pictured in 2006. Local officials say they are losing 150 square metres of plasterwork every year. (Salvatore Laporta/Associated Press)

The Italian government has been forced to declare a state of emergency at the archeological site of Pompeii because of its severe state of disrepair.

"To call the situation intolerable doesn't go far enough," said Culture Minister Sandro Bondi on Friday. She took office in Silvio Berlusconi's new conservative government in May.

Bondi issued a cabinet statement saying the government would appoint a special commissioner for Pompeii, a Roman city buried by an eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in 79 A.D. and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Archaeologists and art historians have been decrying the decay at Pompeii for many years. Its upkeep has been strangled by a lack of funds, litter, looting, mismanagement as well as illegal tour guides and stray dogs.

Critics say there should be more guards and more drains at the site.

The state of emergency would last for a year and allows for extra funds and special measures to be taken to protect the site.

"Every year at least 150 square metres of fresco and plaster work are lost for lack of maintenance," said Antonio Irlando, a regional councillor responsible for artistic heritage.

Pompeii is one of Italy's most-visited tourist sites, hosting some 2.5 million visitors a year.

Two-thirds of the 66-hectare town, which was home to about 13,000 people in the Roman era, have been uncovered since excavations began 260 years ago. The remaining third is still buried.

Adding to the decay is the trash crisis in the nearby city of Naples. The ancient site is now being used as a garbage dump and is littered with tires, old fridges and mattresses.

  •  
Story Tools: EMAIL | PRINT | Text Size: S M L XL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACK | Bookmark and Share
 

More Art & Design Headlines

NYC art dealer pleads guilty in $120M swindle
A Manhattan art dealer pleaded guilty Thursday in a swindle that prosecutors allege bilked $120 million US from clients.
French photographer wins $46K prize
French photographer Sophie Ristelhueber has won this year's Deutsche Borse Photography prize.
Jihad Jane pleads not guilty in murder conspiracy
A U.S. woman accused of being part of a plot to murder a Swedish artist who offended Muslims pleaded non-guilty on Thursday in a Philadelphia court.
N.B. artist looking to sell 2 m eagle carved on whim
A New Brunswick artist is looking to sell a massive wooden eagle he carved on a whim.
Beaverbrook Foundation faces money woes Video
The Beaverbrook U.K. Foundation may have to sell some of its assets to pay mounting legal bills stemming from its seven-year dispute with Fredericton's art gallery, an audit has revealed.

More Arts Headlines

Facebook gag fools PM's spokesman
A Quebec television show has used a Facebook sting to expose an embarrassing hole in the personal security of prime ministerial communications director Dimitri Soudas.
Actress Vardalos plays role in saving teen
Celebrated Winnipeg actress Nia Vardalos is being credited with playing a role in helping a young man in Florida who was contemplating suicide.
Film on Bathurst basketball team planned
A Moncton, N.B., production company hopes to make a TV movie about the Bathurst High School basketball team's 2009 championship win, achieved a year after the school was shaken by a van crash that killed eight people.
Anna Nicole's estate won't get tycoon's wealth
A court in San Francisco has ruled that Anna Nicole Smith's estate will get nothing from the estate of her late husband J. Howard Marshall.
King Ralph reigns on new game show
Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein will be handing out his signature "Ralph Bucks" on a new game show that airs this weekend — except this time, people won't actually be able to cash them in.

People who read this also read …

Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Headlines

New B.C. avalanche kills snowmobiler
A massive avalanche in British Columbia's mountainous backcountry on Friday killed at least one snowmobiler, injured two others and sparked a search for anyone else caught in the second deadly slide in the area in the past week.
Montreal shop owner arrested after slayings Video
Montreal police arrested the owner of a clothing boutique where deadly shootings took place as homicide detectives finished combing through the blood-spattered crime scene Friday.
9/11 deal for workers 'not enough': judge
A federal judge has rejected a mutimillion-dollar deal to compensate thousands of emergency workers who had claimed that cleaning up the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center had made them sick.
Obama makes final health-care pitch Video
U.S. President Barack Obama made a final push to rally support before this weekend's vote on health-care legislation, charging that the country cannot afford to miss this historic opportunity.
Woolstencroft wins 4th gold medal
Lauren Woolstencroft of North Vancouver won the women's standing super-giant slalom ski race Friday for her fourth gold medal of the Paralympics.