(ANSA) - Rome, September 30 - Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino
suggested Tuesday that the Imperial Forums will soon find a
wealthy private patron to fund their restoration.
That patron could be Diego Della Valle, owner of upscale
shoe manufacturer Tod's, who is already funding a
25-million-euro restoration of the Colosseum.
"Della Valle will soon surprise us with further acts of generosity towards Rome," said the notoriously art-loving mayor, who has traveled extensively abroad to drum up private investments in the Eternal City's crumbling monuments. "After the Colosseum I believe he has a marked interest in helping us out with the restoration of the Imperial Forums". The Republic of Azerbaijan announced in July it will donate one million euros to fund the initial phase of the excavation of Imperial Forum. Marino is hoping to raise additional funds from Italian and international donors to complete the ambitious two-year project, which has a total budget of four million euros. If successful, it will redraw the map of the Eternal City by ripping up a busy road routed through a vast archaeological site by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Marino's idea is to reunite the excavated Roman Forum and the imperial forums of Trajan, Augustus, Caesar and Nerva into one great archaeological park. The archeology-loving mayor last year amid much controversy strictly limited traffic on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, which runs along the Forum to the Colosseum, and made it pedestrian-only from June 28 to August 31 this year. The Democratic Party (PD) mayor, a fervent proponent of bicycle paths and pedestrian zones, went on to give lawmakers tooling around in their chauffered cars - the so-called blue cars - a rap on the knuckles. "Unfortunately a lot of politicians drive through Via dei Fori Imperiali in their blue cars," Marino said. "We might ask lawmakers to give up using the Colosseum as a roundabout".
"Della Valle will soon surprise us with further acts of generosity towards Rome," said the notoriously art-loving mayor, who has traveled extensively abroad to drum up private investments in the Eternal City's crumbling monuments. "After the Colosseum I believe he has a marked interest in helping us out with the restoration of the Imperial Forums". The Republic of Azerbaijan announced in July it will donate one million euros to fund the initial phase of the excavation of Imperial Forum. Marino is hoping to raise additional funds from Italian and international donors to complete the ambitious two-year project, which has a total budget of four million euros. If successful, it will redraw the map of the Eternal City by ripping up a busy road routed through a vast archaeological site by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Marino's idea is to reunite the excavated Roman Forum and the imperial forums of Trajan, Augustus, Caesar and Nerva into one great archaeological park. The archeology-loving mayor last year amid much controversy strictly limited traffic on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, which runs along the Forum to the Colosseum, and made it pedestrian-only from June 28 to August 31 this year. The Democratic Party (PD) mayor, a fervent proponent of bicycle paths and pedestrian zones, went on to give lawmakers tooling around in their chauffered cars - the so-called blue cars - a rap on the knuckles. "Unfortunately a lot of politicians drive through Via dei Fori Imperiali in their blue cars," Marino said. "We might ask lawmakers to give up using the Colosseum as a roundabout".
