Culture minister visits Portus archaeological site

Wants to make it accessible to public by 2016

(ANSA) - Fiumicino, July 2 - Italy's Cultural Heritage minister Dario Franceschini and Esterino Montino, Mayor of Fiumicino, visited the 81-acre closed archaeological site 'Portus' near Fiumicino airport on Wednesday to research the possibility of making it accessible to the public by 2016.

Franceschini and Montino, together with archeological superintendent MariaRosaria Barbera, had a private tour of the imperial harbors of Claudius and Trajan, and its "jewels" such as a 2nd century hexagonal basin, third century warehouses and an early Christian basilica, as well as observing ongoing work by archaeologists as they brainstormed plans to make the closed-access sites available to visitors.

"There is no place in the world so beautiful and archaeologically important near an international airport", Franceschini said. "We absolutely will work on a project to enhance it and make it better known''. Barbera said her goals were to reach "30,000 visitors by 2016 and ensure a daily public opening. However, the need for staff, including technical supervision and human resources, is at least fivefold. Since 2007, the staff has been reduced". At present, visitors are permitted to the archaeology site by reservation on specified Saturdays and Sundays.