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To Save Its Monuments, Rome Seeks Corporate Sponsors

With its tourism economy in ruins, the city has struck a deal with a business group that encourages companies to help maintain historic sites.

A municipal worker clears weeds from the Spanish Steps in Rome. To help defray maintenance costs, the city is asking private companies to sponsor historic sites. — A municipal worker clears weeds from the Spanish Steps in Rome. To help defray maintenance costs, the city is asking private companies to sponsor historic sites.
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

By

Peter Yeung

September 22, 2020, 6:35 PM UTC

Brands, Romans, countrymen, lend me your sponsorship!

So goes the call to arms for the city of Rome, whose revered yet financially burdensome historic center faces a dire new threat: devastating budget cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic.