Ever since the Gladiators' House at Pompeii crumbled into dust on Saturday morning, mayors all over Italy have been making enquiries as to the safety of monuments in their own towns and today Mayor Roberto Visentin of Siracusa announced that the Greek Theatre there is also at risk. He has called for an urgent conference on what can be done to ensure its survival.
The Mayor's task has not made any easier by the visitors who left the remains of their chewing gum - over 5,000 revolting blobs of the stuff - on the stone seats like calling cards this summer and I am wondering if anyone can shed light on the mentality of someone who would do this.
People have been attending performances of Greek tragedies in this amazing and humbling setting for nearly 3,000 years. Let us hope that they will be able to continue to do so for generations to come.
10 comments:
Hopefully it will remain in tact!
How very sad for the Mayor of Siracusa.. I remember this wonderful greek theatre.
It really gets to me , the mentality of these people... it happens everywhere .. they just dump their gum .... sooooooo disgusting... !!!
Let's hope so, Cherie. Hi, Anne. Couldn't agree more.
I didn't go to the one in Siracusa, but I did go to the teatro in Taormina and it was stunning. I'd hate to hear that it had fallen away into the sea! Such gorgeous views!
I guess I'm not surprised that some of these structures might no longer be safe after so many years. Hopefully, something can be done to preserve them. That gum is unbelievable! What are people thinking??
OH No! And these are tough times everywhere.
Just popped over from your twitter/FB post about this. It is disgusting when people do this with CG. Do they just not see the beauty of places around them?
This is a cultural tragedy. Pompeii is a cash machine for the Mafia and Camorra thugs who siphon off the substantial sums of EU and Italian Government money targeted for restoration and preservation of this site. This is no secret. The Italian press reports on this and UNESCO and EU reports gingerly refer to this "problem" from time to time. Alas, it happens to so many world heritage sites. The Mayan treasures of Mexico and Central America, for example, have been, and continue to be, hacked away, looted, and sold on the global black market. But one would hope that Italy would guard its priceless heritage better than it does.
Oh I didn't know about that Pompeian house, it's such a sad loss. I wish I could visit some day the Greek Theatre of Siracusa.
HI, Leslie. Yes, the Greeks always built where they had a view of the sea, in case of invaders. Hi, Betty. Yes, there is such a lot of maintenance / restoration work to do and so little money. I don't know what goes on in the minds of these people either. Hi, lakeviewer. Very tough times. Hi, LindyLouMac. I don't know. I just can't understand it. Hi, Bill. The btrouble is there are so many sites in need of new maintenance programmes in Italy. Government spending needs an overhaul, especially in the light of recent events! Hi, Josep. I hope you get to visit it one day.
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