Italy’s most popular attractions will be open for longer this August to help visitors avoid extreme heat.
The country has been experiencing high temperatures over the last few weeks as heatwaves swept across Europe.
Italy’s health ministry has recently put all its major cities on its highest heat alert for Thursday, 6 August, as temperatures are forecast to reach maximums close to 40C as the country’s fourth heatwave intensifies.
Throughout August, the Italian ministries of culture and tourism have launched an initiative to keep major Italian monuments and museums open for up to four hours longer.
The initiative has targeted three of Italy’s major attractions, the Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome and Sforza Castle in Milan.
The Colosseum’s opening times will be extended on top of its usual hours on Fridays and Saturdays from 7.45pm to 11.30pm.
The Pantheon will be open every day for an extra four hours from 7pm to 11pm, except on Thursdays.
Sforza Castle, a medieval fortress which holds artwork by Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, will stay open another two hours until 7.30pm.
Those who visit during the extended hours will also have the benefit of half-price tickets, valued at just over £2, for Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà marble sculpture at the castle.
The free exhibition Passione Disegno. Da Leonardo da Vinci a Keith Haring, held in the castle’s Salette della Grafica, also has extended opening hours.
Tourism minister Gianmarco Mazzi said the initiative is the “result of discussions with tour guides and industry professionals, meeting the needs of travellers and citizens.”
Culture minister Alessandro Giuli added that the evening hours also give visitors a chance to experience attractions in a different setting.
“The special evening openings of the Colosseum and the Pantheon offer an opportunity to experience, in a particularly evocative setting, two universal testaments to history and human ingenuity,” said Mr Giuli. “Making these places even more accessible promotes knowledge and strengthens awareness of their value.”
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