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Hadrian’s Villa could lose its status as World Heritage if current building works in its immediate vicinity continue, the Corriere Della Sera reports. The archeological site near Tivoli, Italy, is considered under threat by the planned construction of a large residential complex designed by Paolo Portoghese on behalf of the company Impreme, a subsidiary of Mezzaroma.
According to a report compiled by the Italian ministry of culture at the request of Unesco, the project violates the compulsary “buffer zone” around the protected site, and could lead the World Heritage Committe to place Hadrian’s Villa on the list of World Heritage in Danger, and, if the threats to its integrity aren’t resolved, the suspension of its status altogether. Environmentalists and activists are now calling on the governement to block the works.
Hadrian’s Villa was built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian at the beginning of the 2nd Century AD. The Villa itself was composed of 30 buildings, covering 1 km square. Many of its statues were removed in the 16th century by Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este to decorate his Villa d’Este.
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