The City of Rome has approved plans to create a six-hectare museum sector around the Colosseum, the Imperial Forums and the Piazza del Campidoglio.
 
The area to be called the Great Campidoglio will be almost as large as the Louvre in Paris, which covers 70,000 square metres.

The historic centre of the city, with important archeological digs in the Forums area and the Colosseum, will be devoted to exhibits and the study of Rome's ancient history.

Archeologists work in January 2006 in a tomb in the Imperial Forums. Rome plans to transform the area into a museum district.
(Andrea D'Errico/Associated Press)

Rome plans to convert seven buildings, now with other uses, into museums and other public buildings, according to reports from ANSA news agency.

"We will free some important buildings to turn them over to the archaeological and cultural life of the city," said Mayor Walter Veltroni, after unveiling a design completed by Rome's urban planners.

The museum area, to be created in stages, will eventually cover 61,250 square metres, Veltroni said.

In the first phase of the project, about 5,000 city workers will move out of a building near the Circo Massimo to make way for artifacts from the Museum of Roman Civilization.

The current Museum of Roman Civilization is located far from Rome's centre.

The archeological dig of Trajan's Market will reopen to the public in October and a new museum will be created to showcase its artifacts.

The Palazzo Rivaldi in the Imperial Forums also will be converted into a museum, with collections of ancient statues and sculptures.

Every year, nearly three million people visit the Imperial Forums, a large area in central Rome that is still under archeological investigation.