Impending collapse on the Palatine

Everyone has heard of sinking Venice, but only a restricted circle of academics wring their hands over crumbling Rome. Yet, for lack of funds, the city's ancient centre is inexorably deteriorating.

Now, though, the issue has been given new urgency by climate change. One night last November, a wall on the Palatine Hill collapsed. . .

The wall's collapse raised an alarming question: if the rain could bring down an apparently solid, 400-year-old structure, what might it do to 2000-year-old buildings suspected to be unstable? . . .

As the authorities wait for the engineer's report [on the structures of the Palatine], emergency repairs are being carried out on two areas where the risks are all too visible. One is Tiberius's palace, which cascades down the north side of the Palatine, overlooking the Forum. The other is the Domus Aurea, Nero's palace, beyond the Colosseum.

Posted by David on July 31, 2006 9:12 PM