'For Pompeii we have 100 million for three years now more help from private individuals'
by Vera Viola
4' min read
4' min read
Twenty-eight restoration and maintenance sites are open, ten of which are also stratigraphic excavations. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii is buzzing with activity, with archaeologists and restorers in action, who are also managing to cope with ever increasing visitor flows. Fifteen thousand a day, sometimes twenty thousand, "even more," points out the Park's director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, in Pompeii since 2021 and promoter of a new season for the most important archaeological site, "and not only on the first Sunday of the month, but also on any day of the week.
So, director, Pompeii was reborn with the European Major Project of over 106 million. And today, are we in a new phase?
That's right. First there was the rescue: we were coming from the era of continuous collapses, of houses that were cordoned off, of alarm echoed around the world. Today, having secured the heritage, we have moved on to maintenance and eventually expansion. The first is the priority: we have 13 thousand rooms to monitor, to protect, intervening before new critical situations arise. We have also made important discoveries, including the children's drawings in the Casa del Cenacolo, or the frescoes in the Casa dei Pittori al lavoro. Just to mention the most recent ones.
The major project had brought a substantial sum to the site, do you now have sufficient resources to support new interventions?
At the moment, yes, because we have as much as 100 million available for the three-year period, which partly comes from the NRP, partly from other European and national programmes, as well as from the Ministry of Culture. Funds that include the ticket revenues that remain at the site for 70%. The problem is for the aftermath, because we need to know today to plan what will happen after 2026. We need to think about the day after tomorrow. For example, with donations from private individuals. In recent years we have received 1 million, but I believe that much more is possible.
We talk about resources, human and professional resources have also grown. Maybe not enough?
We are missing 181 people. Today we have 217 employees of the Ministry of Culture working in the sites of this area. The staff plan provides for a requirement of 398 employees. Now the ministry has published a notice, we are confident that it will want to allocate part of the recruitment to Pompeii. If we then consider the service companies - such as the ticket office, security and others - the number of people employed today reaches 400.
