2000 Year Old Mausoleum to Receive $3 Million for Restoration in Creative Trade

I can’t count the number of times that, when I tell people about my appreciation of mausoleums and cemeteries, I hear, “What a waste of money. What are they good for? People ought to be assigning money in their wills toward art and things that benefit humanity.”

After they have finished their all-things-funerary diatribe, I pause to collect my thoughts. Then, with one eye closed and eyebrow raised, I ask them what they think about the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, the Terra-cotta Warriors in China, Westminster Abbey in England, and the Pantheon in Rome.

As I continue to rattle off well-known mausoleums and burial locations around the world, they usually hold up their hand imploring me to stop. They get my point. The fact is many of the most popular tourist destinations in the world are mausoleums. They are not only a testament to the entombed person but timestamps that often tell us, in great detail, what the architectural and social mores were at the time they were constructed.

The latest permutation of the staying power of mausoleums is that one of them has now become a bargaining chip: the restoration of the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome for art. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. He ruled as emperor for 41 years, dying at age 75 in 14 AD.

During his reign, he had a massive mausoleum constructed that, including the grounds, spans several city blocks in central Rome. Owing to the size and age of the mausoleum (over the centuries it was also used as a bull-fighting ring, concert hall, and private residence), preservation and restoration of the mausoleum have been virtually nonexistent. It has become an urban eyesore.

The mausoleum, like many other buildings in Rome, is an important source of tourist dollars. Like many historic buildings, maintenance is often a challenge. However, maintenance must be done since preserved buildings result in tourist dollars.

The municipality of Rome hoped to have the mausoleum at least partially restored and open to the public by 2014, the 2000th anniversary of Augustus’ death, but the funds for the restoration were diverted elsewhere.

What to do? Enter the Saudi Royal family. According to reports, Rome’s mayor Ignazio Marino brokered a deal with Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister, to loan the Saudis Italian works of art in exchange for $3 million dollars specifically earmarked for the restoration of the Augustus Mausoleum.

Even though the mausoleum will not be restored and open to the public in 2014 to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Augustus’ death, Rome can point to the fact that restoration begins in 2014 and that is celebration enough.

Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

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