ITALY: Emperor Nero's Roman residence is about to reopen to public

After a year of being hidden from the pubilc eye due to emergency restoration works, Roman Emperor Nero's massive imperial palace is finally due to be reopened. When the Domus Aurea was suddenly closed to the public one year ago, due to the possibility of collapses caused by heavy rains, it came as a big disappointment to the many visitors who had booked visits in advance. At the time, the then culture minister Rocco Buttiglione spoke of at least two years of closure to the public. But, even as the emergency work continues, new culture minister Francesco Rutelli has announced that visitors will be welcomed back from January 2007 onwards. The ruins of the palace lie in the centre of Rome, and became hugely popular with tourist when they were opened to the public after lengthy restoration works in 1999 -- it attracted some 1,000 visitors a day. The frescoed, gold-leafed, marble-lined rooms of Nero's golden palace show that the Emperor, who has a reputation of being brutal and mad, was a man with an appreciation for art. The Domus Aurea, so-called for the play of light from the unusual window designs which gave it a golden sheen, the gold leaf covering some of its walls and a colossal golden statue of Nero himself which dominated the whole complex, was first re-discovered in the 15th century. According to historian Suetonius, the walls were decorated with gold and mother of pearl, there was a rotating octagonal dining room and guests were showered with rose petals and perfume from mechanisms hidden in the ceilings. Renaissance artists, including Raphael, Michelangelo and Ghirlandaio, would reportedly lower themselves on ropes to study frescoes in the underground chambers -- and often left their names written on the walls as proof. Now, thanks to the scaffolding used in the restoration work, visitors may get the chance to get an equally good view at the walls and cielings -- though garffiti will be fstrictly forbidden. "Even if this very complex restoration work continues, we'll allow visitors to start coming back again, with all due safeguards. This, in a way, will give visitors a privilege - by using the scaffolding that will be in place for the restoration works, they can observe the roofs of the Domus in a better way," said culture minister Francesco Rutelli, shen he announced the reopening of the ruins from January 30th next year. Nero, the son of Agrippina, the great-granddaughter of Augustus, was adopted by the Emperor Claudius, who had married Nero's mother. He held power from AD 54-68 and built the palace from the ashes of Rome's great fire in AD 64, which began in shops near the Circus Maximus and reduced half of Rome to cinders. Ancient historians, influenced by the Senate which was opposed to the emperor, wrote that Nero started the fire, but some experts now claim it was all part of an urban planning scheme. After Nero committed suicide in AD 68, his successor Vespasian drained the vast lake in the palace's gardens and built the Colosseum in its place, leaving the palace to crumble.Trajan later built his baths over the ruins.

ITN Source | December 24, 2006

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