(ANSA) - Rome, March 27 - The mayor of Rome is flying to the
Saudi Arabian capital on Saturday to woo a Saudi prince in an
ongoing effort to find donors to fund restoration for nine Roman
monuments.
Ignazio Marino will land in Riyadh to present his
fundraising dossier - which has accompanied the mayor on recent
foreign travels - to the art lover Sultan bin Salman bin
Abdulaziz.
Marino's portfolio of projects includes a 1.3-million-euro
plan to restore the facades of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni - a
neoclassical exhibition hall and museum completed in 1883 - and
a six-million-euro effort to return the Seven Halls, an ancient
Roman cistern that once supplied the Baths of Trajan, to their
former glory.
Marino's trip is part of a larger effort to find private
donors to underwrite important renovations in a time of pinched
public coffers.
Luxury goods company Tod's is sponsoring the renovation of
the Colosseum; Fendi is giving aid for the Trevi Fountain; and
Japanese fashion entrepreneur Yuzo Yagi is financing a makeover
for the 2000-year-old Pyramid of Cestius.
Other donors include Bulgari and the embassy of Azerbajian,
while contacts are underway with Coca Cola.
Rome mayor flies to Riyadh to woo donor for restorations
Marino seeks funds to save ancient treasures