THE view from the roof of Rome’s city hall makes others seem inconsequential. Just a turn of the head is sufficient to take in Trajan’s Column, the Forums, the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the Circus Maximus—all set against a backdrop of the blue-grey Apennine mountains. This may be the world’s greatest, and most beautiful, open-air museum. But in the past few weeks it has become a battleground too, involving two parties with different visions of how to cope with the burgeoning number of tourists clamouring to see Italy’s cultural riches.
On one side, wielding a mighty sword, is the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and its former leader, Dario Franceschini, the arts and heritage minister in the coalition government of Paolo Gentiloni. On the other, waving a net and trident, is the mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi of the populist Five Star Movement (M5S). In January Mr Franceschini set up an Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, which comprises the great arena itself and most of...Continue reading
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