Posted on 07/02/2006 8:07:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
From the imposing stone bulk of the Colosseum to the romantic ruins of imperial luxury atop the Palatine Hill, the Eternal City's monuments, once pillaged by foreign conquerors, today face an array of perils old and new. So far, the Colosseum has made it through two millennia, its imposing stone bulk still standing after quakes, lightning strikes, pillaging, traffic tearing round it and subway cars vibrating below. And now, following the terrorist bombings in London and Madrid, the great stadium where gladiators once thrilled the masses is equipped with metal detectors. "The Colosseum is always worrisome because of the threat of an earthquake," said Giorgio Croci, an engineer who has been studying it for years... Roots of wildflowers and weeds bore through brick, and rainwater seeps through stone, forcing authorities to close most of the Palatine's 67 acres to tourists climbing up from the Roman Forum.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
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"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Going to tour Italy next July. I have saved so many articles from your ping list about things I want to see.
The treasure of humanity's past, can't more efforts be made at restoration?
"The national budget, sagging under the cost of generous pensions and health care, can't keep up with the pace of archaeology in a city where "every day there's a discovery," Culture Francesco Rutelli, a former Rome mayor, said at the unveiling of a recently excavated 7th century B.C. frescoed Etruscan tomb of a warrior prince."
Reminds me of what my mother said whilst we were in Italy. 'This would be a nice place if it wasn't full of Italians.'
She's Austrian, LOL!
Be there Feb.Sent to wife.
Italy----Nothing like it (except maybe Greece)...amazing country and each region has its own beauty and cultural traditions.
You will see as well the disrespect that is shown to the cultural monuments of Italy - the disrespect that Fallaci writes about: for example, Mulims urinating and defecating in public squares and around the beautiful monuments.
I saw this disrespect when I visited. Lots more as well. Italy and Europe in general had better wake up and stop importing these people.
"If you would cross this bridge of fate, you must first answer questions 28."
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