Expert: Maria - 2/3/2010

Question
I am an architect preparing my master thesis on policies of periodic maintenance after restoration , I would like to know according to the italian policies is here is any periodic maintenance done to the historic buildings ?? or does it restricted prcticaly to the historic buildings graded I and grade II ( with most historic significant as Colosseum and the leaning tower)? and who pays for it is there is any NGO or any other non profit organization or socities or authorities dealing with supporting funds of periodic maintenance

Answer
Hello,

Actually policies of periodic maintenance after restoration is not my field of expertise, which is instead Ancient Greek and Roman history from ca. 2000 BC to 476 AD, i.e. to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Anyway, as an Italian, I can tell you that e.g. the Colosseum, aka Flavian Amphitheater, built in Rome  towards the end of  the 1st.century AD under the Flavian emperors Vespasian and Titus, will undergo scheduled maintenance just in 2010-2011, while e.g. the last restoration of the leaning  tower of Pisa (Italian: Torre pendente di Pisa), begun in 1173, has been done between 1990 and 2001.

As for periodic maintenance done to the historic buildings which in Italy are very numerous not only in some great cities like Torino, Milano, Venezia, Genova, Bologna, Firenze, Siena, Roma, Napoli, Bari, Palermo, but also  in small towns from the Alps to Sicily, like Aosta, Parma, Ravenna, Modena, Perugia, Ancona,Lecce, Messina, Catania, Siracusa,etc., it is paid by the Ministry for the Arts and the Environment (Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali) and sometimes by non profit organizations or societies such as some private banks  that donate money for this purpose.

Finally such a periodic maintenance is not restricted to the historic buildings grade I and grade II with most historic significance as Colosseum and the leaning tower, but also to many old mansions and palaces that are very numerous all over Italy such as the Royal Palaces we see  in Torino, Milano, Napoli, Roma, the Doge's Palace in Venezia and Genova, the Stupinigi Palace (Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi) near Torino, The Norman Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel in Palermo, etc.

To conclude, I have to tell you that in Italy there are many beautiful churches and religious buildings whose maintenance pertains  however to the Catholic Church.

Best regards,
Maria