MAY 2016 PM NETWORK 7
theEdge
Millennia after hosting Roman emperors and gladiators, the Colosseum was in need of a wash. And
though bureaucratic and funding issues initially
delayed a project to give the almost 2,000-year-old
amphitheater in Rome, Italy its ;rst-ever scrubbing, they were sidestepped after a billionaire businessman donated € 25 million in 2011.
Centuries of decay and more than 6 million
annual visitors have made washing the iconic
structure a painstaking process. The Colos-
seum has remained open during the project,
sections at a time to avoid obstructing too
many views. They are slowly making a clock-
wise journey around the amphitheater, using
hundreds of jets of water to gently spray away
centuries of grime.
“We don’t want to do a face-lift, just a cleaning,” Rossella Rea, director of the Colosseum,
told ;e Telegraph. “It is important to retain the
marks of the past.” ;e project is slated to be
completed in October.
It Wasn’t Cleaned in a Day
PROJECT:
Colosseum restoration
LOCATION:
Rome, Italy
BUDGET:
€ 25 million
SLOW SCRUB:
The project team
is armed with
toothbrushes to clean
narrow cracks in stone.
“It needs
a huge
amount of
attention
to detail.
It’s all being
done by
hand.”
—Pia Petrangeli,
architect, Ministry of
Cultural Heritage and
Activities and Tourism,
Rome, Italy to The
Telegraph
