*Rome museum to 'rival the Louvre'*

 From correspondents in Rome

April 19, 2007 10:16pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse

THE city of Rome has approved plans to create a museum sector
encompassing the Colosseum, the Imperial Forums and the Campidoglio to
rival Paris's Louvre.

Covering an area of six hectares, the Great Campidoglio will be achieved
by converting several buildings into museums.

One of them will house collections currently at the Museum of Roman
Civilisation, located far from Rome's historic centre.

“We will free some important buildings to turn them over to the
archaeological and cultural life of the city,” said Mayor Walter
Veltroni, whose urban planners yesterday finalised the plan, dubbed the
“new Louvre” by the press.

“The sites and monuments involved will cover a total area of 61,250
square meters, while the Louvre in Paris covers 70,000,” Veltroni said.

Seven buildings would be opened or reopened to the public, he added.

The first phase in the coming months will see some 5000 city workers
move out of a site near the Circo Massimo that will house the Roman
Civilisation collections.

Nearby, the archaeological dig of Trajan's Market, closed to the public
for years, will reopen in October, with a new museum at the Imperial
Forums to showcase the artefacts uncovered.

The Palazzo Rivaldi in the Imperial Forums will be reopened to the
public, converted into a museum with collections of ancient statues and
sculptures.

Last year Italy's museums and archaeological sites recorded a 4.4 per
cent and 11 per cent increase in visitors respectively.

Nearly three million people visited the Imperial Forums and 1.81 million
travelled to the ruined Roman city of Pompei near Naples, according to
the tourism and leisure federation Federculture.