Italian luxury shoe tycoon bids €25m to restore Colosseum

An Italian luxury shoe tycoon yesterday offered €25 million .to restore the Colosseum and urged other businesses to do the same “quickly” to avoid the collapse of Italy’s cultural heritage.

“We want to do something good for a great symbol for our country... We need to do this quickly,” Diego Della Valle, head of the Tod’s shoes and handbag company and one of Italy’s leading businesspeople, told reporters in Rome.

The Colosseum, an ancient Roman arena completed in 80 A.D. and used for gladiator fights, is one of Italy’s most popular and best loved cultural treasures, receiving around six million visitors per year.

“We need to do something now because it’s necessary. We don’t need another Pompeii,” he said, referring to a series of recent structural collapses at the ancient archaeological site that have caused shockwaves in the culture world.

Mr Della Valle said his bid to the culture ministry was only on offer until the end of the year and he ruled out taking responsibility for day-to-day management of the restoration as demanded by the culture ministry.

“We don’t plan to use this sponsorship for commercial use. You won’t see a giant shoe hanging from the Colosseum,” Mr Della Valle said.

“This would be a great signal to the international community... and it would help us in Italy at a complicated time for the economy.”

He said Italy should also do more to encourage private sponsorship for its cultural heritage, for example through tax incentives for donors.

Regarding the timing for the restoration, Mr Della Valle said he had undertaken to complete the work within three years after its approval.