“Can there be anyone in the world who doesn’t know what the Colosseum is?” This is what the Italian daily Il Messagero wonders after the risky attempt at justification by Ivan Danailov, a young Bulgarian living in the United Kingdom.
A few days ago, the 27-year-old man was filmed by a Californian tourist inscribing his name, as well as that of his girlfriend, on the grounds of the Colosseum. Broadcast on YouTube, the video quickly created outrage on the other side of the Alps. Wanted to answer for his actions, the young fitness teacher was arrested in England.
In a letter of apology addressed to the Rome public prosecutor, the mayor and the city, he said: “Aware of the seriousness of the gesture that I have committed, I wish to send my most sincere apologies to Italians and to the whole world. for the damage that I have caused to a heritage of humanity.” Before adding: “It is with very deep embarrassment that I admit that it was only after my gesture that I learned how old this monument was.”
A clumsy justification that only fueled Italian anger a little more. “Rome, which invented the genius of the West, finds itself having to suffer from contemporary idiocy, which is moreover imported”, indignantly an editorialist from Il Messagero.
Accused of damaging cultural property on a building listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the British tourist faces up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros. In 2014, a Russian tourist was fined 20,000 euros for writing his initials on the interior of the Flavian Amphitheatre.
In view of the media enthusiasm, the popular anger and the surprising justification, it would seem utopian to bet on the clemency of the Italian judges despite the remorse expressed by the ignorant youngster.
