Published on Friday, June 12, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Rome’s gladiator barracks, part of the city’s famous Colosseum, may soon be accessible to the public—thanks, in part, to the Kuwaiti government. An ancient tunnel linking those training chambers to the main arena could be restored with funds from a multi-million dollar grant from Kuwait, writes The Telegraph. The Ludus Magnus (Great Training Facility) was the...

Published on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 by Kathy McCabe Visitors to Rome's Colosseum will once again be able to walk in the footsteps of the gladiators. Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini announced that he will approve putting the floor back in the iconic amphitheater. "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," Franceschi...

Published on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 by Kathy McCabe The newly elected mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino wants to close down the Via dei Fori Imperiali which runs next to the Colosseum  in a bid to make ancient Rome more pedestrian friendly, hoping to double the current number of visitors to the ancient sites to 20 million.  On August 3rd, Marino began barring private cars from the southern end of the road and tas...

Published on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Our new feature on ItalyTravel.com is The Italy Mix, a post about the most interesting Italy and Italy travel news and human interest stories around the Web each week.  Here are our top picks for this week: Meet the Three People Pope Francis Wanted Front and Center: Pope Francis celebrated his Inaugural Mass at the Vatican this week with some personal guests in t...

Published on Friday, February 8, 2013 by Kathy McCabe Rome - both an ancient and modern wonder - is constantly evolving. Renovation and restoration are an ongoing part of the landscape of the Eternal City. At the Vatican Museums,  restoration has now finished on frescoes in one of the Raphael Rooms -  the Room of Heliodorus. The rooms are named after the High Renaissance master painter Raphael.  They were ori...