16/01/2026

FRIDAY | JAN 16, 2026

23

LYFE

Tourists visiting the Roman Forum as the ancient Roman home ‘House of the Griffins’ opens to the public at the archaeological park of the Colosseum.

A view of the nearby Roman Forum, famous for being the centre of ancient Roman life.

Sightseeing via live stream o Ancient aristocratic Roman home opens to public, but only through remote guided tours

commonplace in Europe, with access for under-18s free at places such as Acropolis in Athens, Prado in Madrid or the Colosseum in Rome to encourage them to visit. The Louvre will remain free for minors from all countries and Europeans under 26. Other destinations, such as the Doge’s Palace in Venice, offer free entrance for city residents. Britain has long had a policy of offering universal free access to permanent collections at its national galleries and museums. But the former director of the British Museum, Mark Jones, backed fee-paying in one of his last interviews in charge, telling The Sunday Times newspaper in 2024 that “it would make sense for us to charge overseas visitors for admission”. The proposal prompted debate but has not been adopted. A research paper published last year by The Cultural Policy Unit, a British museum think tank, opposed it for practical and philosophical reasons. It would reduce entries, lengthen queue times and overturn a centuries-old policy, the report concluded. “Britain holds its national collections for the world – not just its own residents,” it objected. – AFP have survived. Little remains of the ground floor, apart from traces of the atrium, with a pool and mosaics. The underground floor, however, is full of wonders, yet accessible only via a dangerously steep and narrow staircase. That makes it ill-suited for mass visits, so the Colosseum Archaeological Park came up with the idea of a “live streamed guided tour system”, said project leader and archaeologist Federica Rinaldi. Visitors are made to stand in a room while a guide ventures downstairs with a mobile camera strapped to their forehead, beaming back upstairs what they are seeing, projected onto a wall, capped with an expert’s explanation. The home was previously only accessible to academics and researchers, upon request. The new remote guided tours are being introduced following restoration work financed by the European Union’s post-Covid recovery funds. – Reuters

A N ancient Roman home more than 2,000 years old has opened to the public, but its spectacular mosaics, frescoes and stucco decorations will be accessible only via remote and web-streamed guided tours. The “House of the Griffins”, named after animal decorations in one of its

rooms, was an aristocratic residence on the Palatine Hill, which sits between the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus arena. Dating back to the 2nd–1st century BC, it is one of the oldest homes from Rome’s Republican era. It was partly destroyed by the foundations of a palace built above it, but two floors

A guide gestures while in the ‘House of the Griffins’. – PICS FROM REUTERS

France’s Louvre fare hike for non-European tourists sparks outcry SHOULD foreign tourists pay more for state-funded galleries than locals, or should art be accessible to all, without discrimination? France hiked prices for non-Europeans at the Louvre this week, provoking debate about so-called “dual pricing”. pricing on principle, they are also worried for practical reasons, as staff will now need to check visitors’ identity papers.

French academic Patrick Poncet has drawn a parallel between France’s move and the policies of US President Donald Trump, whose administration hiked the cost for foreign tourists of visiting US National Parks by US$100 (RM405) on Jan 1. The French policy was “symptomatic of the return, as elsewhere in the world, of unabashed nationalism”, Poncet wrote in Le Monde newspaper last month. ‘Not meant to pay’ Other state-owned French tourist hotspots are also hiking their fees, including the Chambord Palace in the Loire region and the national opera house in Paris. The government has justified the increases on financial grounds, looking to raise €20–30 million annually at a time when it is under pressure to boost revenues and cut spending. Some of the funds will go towards a colossal plan to renovate the Louvre, which French President Emmanuel Macron announced last year. Estimated to cost around €1 billion, unions and some art critics have called the project wasteful.

Since Wednesday, any adult visitor from outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway must pay €32 (RM150) to enter the Louvre – a 45% increase – while the Palace of Versailles will up its prices by €3. Americans, UK citizens and Chinese nationals, who are some of the museum’s most numerous foreign visitors, will be among those affected, as will tourists from poorer countries. The French move has few precedents elsewhere in Europe, but is more common in developing countries, where tariffs at sites such as Machu Picchu in Peru or the Taj Mahal in India vary. Trade unions at the Louvre have denounced the policy as “shocking philosophically, socially and on a human level” and have called for strike action over the change, along with a raft of other complaints. They argue that the museum’s vast collection of 500,000 items, including many from Egypt, the Middle East or Africa, hold universal human value. While rejecting discriminatory

Tourists stand behind barriers blocking the access to the Louvre main courtyard, La Cour Napoleon, with the Louvre Pyramid, designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, as the museum is closed due a strike on Jan 12. – AFPPIC

themselves,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati said at the end of 2024 as she announced the hikes. European outlier It remains to be seen whether the break with European convention by the continent’s most-visited country will spur other cultural destinations to follow suit. Pricing based on age is

Everyone agrees the Louvre is in poor shape, however, with a recent water leak, structural problems and an embarrassing daylight robbery in October focusing minds. “I want visitors from outside the EU to pay more for their entry tickets and for that surcharge to go toward funding the renovation of our national heritage. The French are not meant to pay for everything all by