The work will be funded by private money from ‘Italian shoe magnate’ Diego delle Valle. Eighteen months after first getting the green light to restore the Colosseum and despite bureaucratic glitches and an investigation by the Court of Auditors and Rome’s public prosecutor, it looks like Diego Della Valle, chairman and chief executive officer of Tod’s SpA, will finally be able to see work begin on the historic amphitheater. A press conference to kick off the project, solely sponsored by Tod’s, will be held July 31 at the monument.
The mayor declared this ‘a great victory for Rome and for culture’ and it would appear that there have been no modifications to the originally submitted plans and schedules. There are six distinct building sites/projects, each of which is expected to take 24 to 36 months each to complete – three will be running alongside each other at a time. So that means 4 to 6 years of work, it would seem.
At no time has there been any mention of any part of the Colosseum being closed to visitors, so take the opporunity to discover the Colosseum and the rest of the Ancien City with one of our Tours.
