Italy shows off restored Pompeii villa as EU deadline looms

Italy unveiled the restored crown jewel of the ancient city of Pompeii on Friday, showing off a rare success story as it races to shore up the site marred by such mismanagement and neglect that it risked losing EU funding and its UNESCO World Heritage site listing. Culture Minister Dario Franceschini cut the ribbon to open the restored Villa of Mysteries, a spectacular estate on the outskirts of Pompeii’s city centre that features some of the best-preserved frescoes of the site.

We know well that the world looks with great attention at everything that happens at Pompeii.

Dario Franceschini, culture minister

Hit by heavy rains, some of Pompeii’s walls have literally crumbled. In recent years, Pompeii has been bedeviled by neglect and mismanagement characteristic of Italy’s underdeveloped south, as well as brushes with the corruption that has infected some other important public works in Italy, including its Expo 2015 World’s Fair in Milan and the Moses water barrier project in Venice.

Arts