Nero's Golden Palace, one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions, will partly reopen to visitors next week after 14 months of restoration work.

Archeologists will continue their efforts to preserve the first-century imperial residence from decay and humidity as visitors regain access to about half the palace.

A view inside Nero's Golden Palace in Rome in December 2006. It will reopen to tourists next week, but archeologists must keep working.
(Plinio Lepri/Associated Press)

Guided tours for no more than 20 people start on Feb. 6. Visitors are required to wear helmets as they walk through a maze of underground passageways or climb scaffolding that will allow them to watch archeologists at work.

"People will have the chance to get to know the monument itself and the efforts to maintain and preserve it," said archeologist Irene Pignatelli.

"The aim of this type of visit is to show how the residence can be assaulted [by weather], how to intervene and what happens after the restoration."

The Domus Aurea, or Golden Palace, was Nero's monument to himself, built after the great fire of AD 64 which destroyed half the city. Gold leaf covers some of its walls, and a colossal gold statue of Nero himself dominates the building.

Nero levied a heavy tax on Rome's population to pay for marble and other precious materials to be imported from Greece, Egypt and parts of Asia so he could pay for his luxury palace. It was completed in AD 68, the year the unpopular Nero committed suicide amid a revolt.

The palace, which is deteriorating under the effects of heat and humidity, reopened in June 1999 after an 18-year restoration.

Two years later, part of the ceiling collapsed and it was again closed in 2005 after days of heavy rains threatened to cause the collapse of parts of the building.

High humidity causes the walls to break and algae and fungus are also appearing on the frescoes, Pignatelli said.

But some humidity is needed to preserve the frescoes and the vaulted ceilings that were once encrusted with pearls and covered with ivory.

"We have to imagine this place as full of light, luxurious, with precious colourful materials and golden leaves," Pignatelli said. "Today, we only see what time and decay have given back to us."
 
Located next to the Colosseum, the Domus Aurea had about 1,000 visitors a day before it was closed for restoration in December 2005.