The Pantheon of Agrippa in Rome is one of the most visited moments in Italy and, until not long ago, its entrance was free, due to the fact that it is a place of religious worship. However, a month ago, it was consolidated as a paying tourist attraction, with a price of 5 euros for general admission.
This Saturday, the Italian Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, announced that in his first month after the measure became effective, more than 860,000 euros had been raised, which “exceeds all expectations.”
In addition, he highlighted that there are thousands of young people between the ages of 18 and 25 – who pay a reduced entrance fee of 2 euros – who decided to visit the building, one of the best preserved in imperial Rome with almost 2,000 years old, while nearly 50,000 they benefited from the free tickets provided by law.
According to the Italian Government, which launched the collection system on July 1, 181,635 euros of what was collected during the first month will be used to recover the areas affected by the flood that flooded a large part of the Emilia-Romagna region, in the north of the country, recently.
Agrippa’s Pantheon receives some 9 million visitors a year and the idea of ??paying an entrance fee for the building, admired for its impressive dome, had been debated for some time, later converted into the church of Santa María de los Mártires y which also serves as the pantheon of the former Italian kings Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I.
70% of the profits derived from the tickets will go to the Ministry of Culture, which will take care of their cleaning and conservation, while the remaining 30% will go to the coffers of the Diocese of Rome, which will allocate part of the income to actions charities and other temples.
The people exempt from payment will be the same as those contemplated by the museums and monuments of Italy, such as those under 18 years of age and people with disabilities, as well as those who go to mass or pray.
