Culture Minister launches heritage plan for 300 mln euros

(AGI) Rome, Jan 4 - After 360 million euros for the South of Italy, another 300 million will go on the protection of cultural heritage, announced the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. The minister, Dario Franceschini, approved a three-year programme of investment at 241 heritage sites throughout Italy. These new resources - immediately available, having already received the go-ahead from the High Council of Cultural Heritage, and taking into account the requests and reports arriving from the regions, - will contribute to economic recovery, the ministry explained. "This investment of 300 million euros on 241 interventions throughout Italy confirms how culture has returned to the centre of national politics," said Minister Franceschini. "From art to archaeology, from libraries to archives, from museums to the excellence of restoration, there is no cultural heritage sector that is not receiving a significant boost in financial and political terms from this government," he continued. The 300 million euros are in addition to the 360 million or so from Pon Cultura allocated to protection in the five regions of southern Italy (Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily), and cover all Italian regions. In Liguria, the ministry specified, the three-year programme provides 6.945 million euros for the following seven actions: completion of the fitting out of the new premises of the University Library of Genoa and building installations for energy savings there (1 million euros); complete restoration and functionalisation of the Abbey of San Giuliano in Genoa (1.3 million); restoration and improvement of the Roman theatre of the archaeological site of Luni in Ortonovo in La Spezia (600,000); works for the protection and upgrade of the Royal Palace of Genoa, including restoration of the Hall of Mirrors, Diana hall, and the stairs of the ladies' apartment (1.3 million); completion of the renovation of the building on Via Roma housing the State Archive of La Spezia (2 million); dust removal and disinfestation of archival material in the State Archives of La Spezia (45,000); and measures to upgrade the safety and energy efficiency of the Royal Palace in Genoa at (600,000). (AGI) . .