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CULTURE

Coronavirus forces Italy to close its biggest tourist attractions

The Colosseum, Pompeii and the Uffizi Galleries are among the tourist hotspots closed as Italy battles to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Published: 9 March 2020 11:28 CET
Coronavirus forces Italy to close its biggest tourist attractions
Rome's Pantheon is closed to the public until further notice. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

As part of unprecedented measures to contain the new virus, Italy has cancelled events that are likely to draw crowds – including festivals, football matches, exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and even church masses.

While the restrictions were originally limited to the worst-affected regions in the north, a sweeping government decree issued on March 8th extended the precautions throughout Italy.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about the new coronavirus measures in Italy

The closures are expected to run until at least April 3rd.

If you have already booked entry to a site or event before then, contact your ticket provider to request a refund or rebooking.

In the meantime, several museums are posting images of their collections online as part of a campaign by Italy's culture ministry called #iorestoacasa ('I'm staying home').

Here are some of the top sites affected.

Raffaello exhibition, Rome: one of the biggest disappointments for culture vultures is the abrupt closure of a blockbuster exhibition celebrating 500 years since the death of Renaissance master Raphael. 


Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Gathering 200 works by the prolific painter, the show at Rome's Scuderie del Quirinale presidential palace opened on Wednesday and had been due to run until June 2nd, with some 70,000 tickets pre-sold.

But the museum announced on its website on Sunday that the exhibition was closing until further notice. Visitors who already bought tickets will be contacted directly.

Colosseum and Roman Forum: the Colosseum will remain closed to visitors until April 3rd – though you're still free to walk round and admire it from the outside.


The Colosseum deserted. Photo: Laurent Emmanuel/AFP

The Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and Domus Aurea are likewise closed. Take a stroll down the Via dei Fori Imperiali and around the Circo Massimo to get a view of the archaeological sites.

Vatican Museums: the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel) are closed until further notice. 

Exceptionally, even St Peter's Basilica and Square have been closed to the public until April 3rd. For the time being Pope Francis will not be celebrating mass in front of an audience, but streaming prayers instead.

Pantheon: this converted Roman temple, usually a functioning church and free to enter, is closed to visitors as part of the decree.

Borghese Gallery: Rome's sumptuous Galleria Borghese is closed until April 3rd. You can still visit the Villa Borghese park that surrounds it.

Uffizi Galleries: the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens are all closed until April 3rd.

Pompeii: the ancient sites of Pompeii, Oplontis, Stabia and Boscoreale are all closed.

Reggia di Caserta: the Royal Palace of Caserta remains closed until April 3rd.

READ ALSO: Is it still safe to visit Italy after the coronavirus outbreak?

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ROME

Rome square filled with coffins in protest over Italy’s workplace deaths

A thousand coffins filled one of Rome's most famous squares on Tuesday as a trade union made a powerful statement on Italy's high number of deaths in accidents at work.

Published: 19 March 2024 17:01 CET
Rome square filled with coffins in protest over Italy's workplace deaths

“Every year, one thousand people go to work and don’t come home,” read a large sign displayed next to the 1,041 cardboard coffins set up around the obelisk in the centre of the Piazza del Popolo.

“Zero is still too far away,” read another sign in the square as curious tourists took snapshots.

Last year, 1,041 people died in workplace accidents in Italy.

“We brought these coffins here to raise awareness, to remind everyone of the need to act, to not forget those who have lost their lives,” Pierpaolo Bombardini, general secretary of the UIL union behind the protest told AFPTV.

The protest was also intended “to ask the government and politicians to do something concrete to prevent these homicides” he added.

“Because these are homicides. When safety rules are violated, they are not accidents, but homicides.”

Cardboard coffins fill Rome’s Piazza del Popolo on March 19th in a protest by the Italian Labor Union (UIL) intended to draw public attention to the number of deaths at work in Italy. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Fatal accidents in the workplace regularly make headlines in the Italian press, each time sparking a debate on risk prevention. Most recently a concrete structure collapsed on the construction site of a supermarket in Florence last month, killing five people working at the site.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced it as “another story… of people who go out to work, who simply go out to do their job, and do not come home”.

Bombardini called for an increase in the number of inspections and inspectors.

“Companies that violate safety standards must be closed down,” he added. According to Eurostat’s most recent statistics, from 2021, on EU-wide workplace fatalities, Italy had 3.17 deaths per 100,000 workers.

That was above the European average of 2.23 per 100,000 works but behind France at 4.47 and Austria at 3.44.

The European Union’s three worst-faring countries are Lithuania, Malta and Latvia, while work-related fatalities are lowest in the Netherlands, Finland and Germany.

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