Rome prepares for the return of Augustus’ mausoleum

Inspection by the mayor of Rome to the construction site of the new Piazza Augusto Imperatore: "We are at a very good point"

ROME – “Today we visited this very important construction site which will return to the world and the city one of the most beautiful places of ancient Rome and of Rome, whose recovery is started in the 1930s and continued in 2006 with the competition for the reorganization of the area: the mausoleum of Augustus. We strongly wanted to relaunch this work, integrating the funds where necessary both with public resources and with donations from private individuals”. Thus the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, at the end of the inspection of the construction site of the new Piazza Augusto Imperatore carried out this morning in the company of the superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce >.

“We are at a very good point with the conclusion of the first lot, i.e. the reorganization of the underground square – explained Onorato – this has the two cordons as its strong point which reconnect the contemporary level with the ancient one, where there will be not only a beautiful info point but also a cafeteria and a space for enjoying the city, perhaps a reading room, all closed by a glass wall of this first part will be completed by the end of the year”.

“SECOND PART WILL CONCLUSION IN 2025”

“The works on the second lot are underway – added Gualtieri – with the arrangement of the entire area around the monument where the reinforced earth will be used for containment and squares will be built overlooking the mausoleum This second part will be completed by the end of 2025. There have been some discoveries that have made the times more complex, such as the wall of a peperino enclosure which could be the place where Augustus was cremated or the annex of the mausoleum intended for the bodies of family members who had fallen into disgrace such as Nero and others”. “The mausoleum – he added – has already been made safe and restored and now there is the construction site, which we have integrated also thanks to the donation from Bulgari, and which will see the museum layout assigned to the great architect Rem Koolhaas. This will be completed in 18 months, therefore around the first half of 2026, with work starting after the summer. Inside we will exhibit the findings of this construction site such as the head of Aphrodite, the cippus of Claudius, the pomerium. while immediately outside you will walk on a Roman pavement.

”NOT-HAVING THE MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS WAS A BIG BLACK HOLE”

“Not having the Mausoleum of Augustus accessible and integrated with the city in Rome represented a kind of black hole – concluded Gualtieri – because we are talking about one of the most important in the city and in the entire world. The mausoleum will become the museum of Augustus and the history of Emperor Piazza Augustus. We are talking about the largest mausoleum in ancient Rome, larger than the mausoleum of Hadrian, inspired by that. of Alexander the Great who in turn was inspired by that of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the world”.