Colosseum floor offers tv cash, minister

(ANSA) - Rome, April 17 - Putting the floor back in the Colosseum would allow "unique" shows to be staged inside the Flavian amphitheatre that would bring "sufficient tv rights to restore all the central architectural area," Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said Friday.
    "Rebuilding the arena of the Colosseum, taking it back to the way it was until the 19th century, is the best way to protect the monument," Franceschini said of the 2,000-year-old pile.
    Putting the floor back in, so visitors can walk around the middle of the arena like gladiators once did, will happen, Franceschini pledged, adding that Rome then can stage "shows that will be unique in the world, with television rights sufficient to restore all the central archaeological area".
    Franceschini's proposal received qualified support from the president of the High Council of Cultural Heritage, Giuliano Volpe, who said reconstructing the arena of the Colosseum would help to "improve the understanding and enjoyment of the monument".
    However Volpe said he strongly opposes transforming the central area of Rome into an archaeological park "that would be visited mainly by tourists and would run the risk of being a non-place expelling citizens".
    "You need good communication that challenges bad communication of sensationalism, mysteries, of fanat-archaeology," said Volpe.