Visitors going to Rome’s Pantheon, one of many historical world’s greatest preserved monuments, must pay an entrance payment from Monday.
Italy’s tourism ministry has mentioned it’ll price €5 (£4.30) to enter the church from subsequent week.
The huge cylindrical former temple has an undamaged exterior wall which helps a 142 ft dome.
Every 12 months, the landmark attracts thousands and thousands of holiday makers, making it one in all Italy’s prime vacationer attracts.
The long-delayed introduction of a cost is a part of a drive to squeeze extra revenue from Italy’s cultural belongings, with the tourism ministry set to obtain 70% of the income to assist cowl cleansing and upkeep.
The relaxation will go to the Diocese of Rome.
Entrance will nonetheless be freed from cost for worshippers throughout spiritual providers.
The Pantheon’s present type and six-metre-thick partitions date from the early a part of the reign of Emperor Hadrian, who got here to energy in AD 117.
It stays the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome and has a round skylight at its crown.
The constructing survived the Barbarian assaults on Rome and was reworked right into a Christian church in 609.
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Queuing up for one of many final free tickets on provide, German vacationer Karsten Kohler mentioned on Friday: “If it’s going to stay for another 2,000 (years), they need some money.”
Caring for artwork and structure has lengthy posed a problem for a rustic that’s chargeable for extra UNESCO world heritage websites than every other and has long-standing issues of paperwork and low public funding.
Source: information.sky.com”