Giant mausoleum in Rome that held the remains of the emperor Augustus to be restored after decades of neglect

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/16/giant-mausoleum-rome-hel...

The Mausoleum of Augustus, located in central Rome close to the banks of the Tiber, has been neglected for decades CREDIT: ALAMY

•  Nick Squires, rome 

16 JANUARY 2017 • 3:00PM

After decades of shameful neglect, the biggest mausoleum ever to be built by the ancient Romans is to be brought alive with a spectacular multimedia experience projected onto its 2,000-year-old walls.

The Mausoleum of Augustus, located in the centre of Rome just a stone’s throw from the Tiber, was constructed in 28BC and became the last resting place of the eponymous emperor, as well as his successors Nero and Tiberius.

An Italian telecommunications company has contributed six million euros for its restoration, with its director promising an elaborate multimedia show that will tell the story of Augustus and ancient Rome.

 

“Images of Rome, from ancient times to the modern era, will be projected onto the interior of the mausoleum’s walls,” said Giuseppe Recchi, the president of Telecom Italia. “Tourists will be immersed in the most sensational story of humanity, from imperial Rome to the beginnings of Christianity and the Baroque period,” he told Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The mausoleum is surrounded by Piazza Augusto Imperatore in the centre of RomeCREDIT: GETTY 

Mr Recchi said that the multimedia experience would be created by “Oscar-winning Italian directors”, but declined to name names, saying that negotiations were ongoing. The mausoleum was “one of the key monuments in the history of mankind,” he said.

The ambitious restoration project cannot come too soon. Once the glory of ancient Rome, the mausoleum has been left in a state of forlorn neglect for decades. 

Surrounded by a shabby fence, invaded by scrappy vegetation and littered with rubbish, it is closed to tourists and all but ignored by passing Romans. 

The mausoleum should be the focus of the surrounding piazza, which was built by Benito Mussolini during the Fascist era and hosts bars, restaurants and fashion outlets. 

But efforts to restore the massive tomb have foundered over the years on bureaucracy, inter-departmental squabbling and lack of funding.

A big restoration project was supposed to have been completed in August 2014 in time for the 2000th anniversary of the death of Augustus, but it was not even started.

The entrance to the mausoleum, where the remains of Emperor Augustus and other emperors were interred CREDIT: ALAMY

Augustus, the nephew of Julius Caesar, became Rome’s first emperorafter defeating  Mark Anthony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

He assumed absolute power and ruled an empire that stretched from Spain to Egypt and Asia Minor. On his death bed he famously said of the city: “I found a Rome of bricks; I leave to you one of marble."  

The circular mausoleum once stood around 120ft high and had a diameter of nearly 300ft.  It was topped by a 15ft-tall bronze statue of Augustus. It was converted into a fortress in the Middle Ages and then a bull-fighting ring in the 18th century. 

It was made into a concert hall in the early 20th century before Mussolini ordered all modern additions to be stripped away, in a bid to associate himself with the greatness of Rome’s first emperor, whom he hoped to emulate.