More than 15,000 visit Pompeii at Easter

(ANSA) - Rome, April 22 - More than 15,500 people visited the archeological site of Pompeii near Naples on Easter Monday, a sizeable increase compared to the 12,000 visitors on the same day in 2013.
    The upturn in visitor numbers came on the heels of the opening on April 17 of three restored houses located in the ancient commercial centre of Pompeii which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
    The figures were also in line with a high turnout at state-run museums and archaeological sites across the country.
    Officials cheered.
    "Art cities and old towns crowded with tourists, with all state museums open exceptionally for Easter and Easter Monday.
    We're changing direction," said Culture Minister Dario Franceschini in a post on his Twitter feed on Monday. The excavations at Pompeii, the world's most famous open-air museum and one of Italy's biggest tourist attractions, have received mostly negative press in recent years due to a string of rain-linked structural collapses that have raised concerns about the condition of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.