Rome walks back plan to charge for entering Pantheon

[cruisemom42]

I just ran across an article from Lonely Planet dated earlier this year that Rome has decided NOT to implement at charge for entering the Pantheon, as was originally announced in 2017. The article doesn't state a compelling reason for the change, but apparently the new Minister of Culture did not agree with his predecessor's plans. The minister is quoted as saying "A measure of this kind would have limited the traditional free access to the capital’s churches of worship and created a barrier between the monument and the square it is in.”  One wonders if they realize how much of a line and how much disruption this would cause to the Piazza in front of the Pantheon, now a very pleasant (if often overcrowded) space.

 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/01/09/rome-pantheon-free-visitor-entry/

 

I'm very happy this is the case, as I love to just drop in to the Pantheon whenever I pass by. I'd hate to have that informality changed. 

 

On the other hand, don't look for Venice to change its plans about implementing a fee for visitors as early as this summer:  https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a26624884/venice-entrance-fee-for-tourists/   

[slidergirl]

16 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I just ran across an article from Lonely Planet dated earlier this year that Rome has decided NOT to implement at charge for entering the Pantheon, as was originally announced in 2017. The article doesn't state a compelling reason for the change, but apparently the new Minister of Culture did not agree with his predecessor's plans. The minister is quoted as saying "A measure of this kind would have limited the traditional free access to the capital’s churches of worship and created a barrier between the monument and the square it is in.”  One wonders if they realize how much of a line and how much disruption this would cause to the Piazza in front of the Pantheon, now a very pleasant (if often overcrowded) space.

 

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/01/09/rome-pantheon-free-visitor-entry/

 

I'm very happy this is the case, as I love to just drop in to the Pantheon whenever I pass by. I'd hate to have that informality changed. 

 

On the other hand, don't look for Venice to change its plans about implementing a fee for visitors as early as this summer:  https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/a26624884/venice-entrance-fee-for-tourists/   

 

I hope they put up a "donations" box, if there isn't one already.  I am always dropping a few Euros in the boxes of the churches I visit.  I appreciate their inviting the public inside and have no issue with providing some funds...

 

I am still happy that they are going to charge in Venice and Cinque Terre, though.  Again, I'm happy to pay for the access and to help pay for upkeep.

[Host Bonjour]

Interesting as I thought the fee was already being charged to enter and I actually JUST this week informed someone, a pilot I'm quite close to 😉 who will now be flying to Rome on 777's, that there's a small fee to go into the Pantheon but he should go in anyway. As there's very little time to spare on the layovers, I thought that the Pantheon was still so worth what was it going to be, two or three euro, for the marvel of engineering and architecture that it is to say nothing of the art and history that goes along with it, the piazza....everything.

 

Alas so much ever depends upon where the hotel is...the other pilots, I don't know. I try!

 

But, getting back to it, indeed great news and hopefully yes, still free for so many reasons. Just doesn't seem very practical to set up a system to pay/collect a fee and keep a system here based simply due to where the Pantheon IS! Not a great place for there to be a giant long queue of people waiting to pay/get in, I don't know, install ATMs? Not really but, it just didn't ever seem practical or make sense. 

 

But then the elections last time around.....anyway....

 

Just watched My Brilliant Friend on HBO Now, an adaptation of an Elena Ferrante book that I've not read but the mini-series was ok. Two clever little Neapolitan girls become friends in elementary school after WW2....as they grow up, life challenges them in different ways. And one gets to go to Ischia. It's all spoken in dialect except for the teachers who speak proper Italian although Mastra Oliviero is slightly relaxed and doesn't sound SO northern like High School teacher in Napoli does. Some good acting.... 🙂

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Host Bonjour said:

Just watched My Brilliant Friend on HBO Now, an adaptation of an Elena Ferrante book that I've not read but the mini-series was ok. Two clever little Neapolitan girls become friends in elementary school after WW2....as they grow up, life challenges them in different ways. And one gets to go to Ischia. It's all spoken in dialect except for the teachers who speak proper Italian although Mastra Oliviero is slightly relaxed and doesn't sound SO northern like High School teacher in Napoli does. Some good acting.... 🙂

 

 

I liked the HBO series a lot -- I thought it was very true to both the words and the feeling of the book, which I loved. 

 

I think it must be confusing to keep all the families straight without having read the book!