Vandals and Selfies at the Colosseum

Restorer Sonia Lanzelotti repairing wall at the Colosseum where a vandal carved out the letter "K".  Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television Cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014
Restorer Sonia Lanzelotti repairing wall at the Colosseum where a vandal carved out the letter “K”. Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television Cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014

Dear Blog Readers—

My blogger buddy Adri Barr Crocetti, the famous foodie who reveals her secrets on her blog adribarrcrocetti.com, asked me this week if I was going to write about the vandal at the Colosseum, so here goes…

A 25 centimter (10 Inch) letter "K" scratched into the wall of the Colosseum by a vandal on November 22.  Photo credit: Italian Ministry of Culture.
A 25 centimter (10 Inch) letter “K” scratched into the wall of the Colosseum by a vandal on November 22. Photo credit: Italian Ministry of Culture.

It was mid-morning last Friday when a security guard working in the Colosseum spotted a 42-year-old Russian tourist using a stone to scratch out a large letter  “K” 25 centimeters high (10 inches) and then beside it, in smaller letters an entire name, “Ketreia”.  She called the police who promptly arrested him.

The tourist was later fined 20,000 euros ($25,000) and got a suspended sentence to four years in prison. The Russian was not the first person to leave his mark on the Colosseum.

This morning I went with AP Television cameraman Gigi Navarra to the Colosseum to film the damage done by the vandal.  There we found restorer Sonia Lanzelotti in a white helmet and blue gloves, with what looked like a painter’s palette in her hand.  She was gently putting a reddish-yellow stucco over the scratched out letter “K” on the wall of Colosseum.

The walls around the edge of the Colosseum are covered with carved out names that were made by visitors when the Colosseum was left open to the public.  Now there is a metal barrier around the outside and only people with tickets can get in. According to Cinzia Conti , the Director of Restoration for the Colosseum who I spoke to today, “it happened more in the past especially because the Colosseum was open to the public, but today the monument is controlled by cameras and custodians who can keep these gestures from being repeated. “

A name etched into one of the outer walls of the Colosseum by vandals years ago.  Freeze frame of video shot by AP cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014
A name etched into one of the outer walls of the Colosseum by vandals years ago. Freeze frame of video shot by AP cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014

But despite the closed circuit cameras and vigilant custodians, there are still people from every corner of the globe who attempt to leave a mark.  In 2014 alone an Australian father and son got caught vandalizing the monument in January, a Canadian teenager was caught in March and a Brazilian teenager in May and now the Russian.  Perhaps that is not too many if one considers that over 5.5 million tourists visit the Colosseum every year.

As Sonia worked, a cute pair of Japanese tourists came buy holding an umbrella and quietly watched her work.  Several Americans and Russians traipsed by on the other side.

Tools used by restorer Sonia Lanzelotti to repair wall at Colosseum damaged by a vandal. Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television cameraman Luigi Navarra. November 26, 2014
Tools used by restorer Sonia Lanzelotti to repair wall at Colosseum damaged by a vandal. Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television cameraman Luigi Navarra. November 26, 2014

Sonia painted with a small brush and then used a tiny sponge to gently pat down the wall.  She explained to us that she was repairing the damage using stucco on the wall with various inserts of yellow and red terracotta trying to get as close as possible to the color of the original bricks.  She then used a brush and some paints to cover over the top.

Gigi and I stopped to asked some people outside the Colosseum what they thought about the vandal and his hefty fine. Vitaliy Lobodan from Russia said he thought the fine was well-deserved noting, “To write something on it, it is a crime.  It is not like they make you pay something to feel guilty, no.  You did a crime and you have pay the consequences.”

Lobodan’s view was shared by Lynette Mitchell from Washington, D.C. who told us, “I think it is awful, he should be fined.”

When you stand in the Colosseum it is hard to imagine that this amphitheater was built nearly 2000 years ago.  To be precise, construction of the Colosseum began in 70 A.D. under the Roman Emperor Vespasian and was opened in 80 AD under his son Titus.  They inaugurated the Colosseum with 80 days of games.  In front of some 50,000 spectators, gladiators would combat each other and wild animals such as lions, tigers and crocodiles and sometimes the floor of the arena was filled with water for re-enactments of naval battles.

Luckily today there weren’t any crocodiles or vandals, but I did get a big kick out of the couple doing a “kissing selfie” at the Colosseum.

Couple doing a "kissing selfie" at Colosseum in Rome. Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014
Couple doing a “kissing selfie” at Colosseum in Rome. Freeze frame of video shot by AP Television cameraman Gigi Navarra. November 26, 2014

11 thoughts on “Vandals and Selfies at the Colosseum”

  1. The lawyer in me wants to know more about that Russian tourist and the fine. Was it actually paid in full? If not, how and when will it be enforced?

    1. Good questions Carina. Officials at the Colosseum asked me not to include this piece of information in any story– but I will stick it in this response. The Russian only had 500 Euros on him and he left the country without paying. I don’t think he can come back in without getting stopped at the border though. The officials at the Colosseum were keen that people know how hefty the fine is so that they will be encouraged not to copy him and they would prefer that people don’t know that he got out of the country without paying it.

      1. I won’t say a word! Honestly, I don’t think a huge fine is much of a disincentive to people. Most vandals don’t have the assets to pay and since debtor’s prisons seem to be a thing of the past, I expect it will continue relatively unabated — part of the allure is probably that it’s not permitted and because MOST people don’t leave a mark. Those of us who could swing payment of a hefty fine aren’t inclined to be vandals anyway.

  2. Hi Trisha,

    Thank you for the shout-out and for covering this issue.I love that the cover-up work is done by a restoration artist. This story really bothered me, and now to see that this was not a kid makes it even more outrageous. I hate to sound like an elementary school teacher, but can you just imagine if every one of the 5.5 million individuals who visited left their mark? It is good that the fellow was fined. Let’s hope word gets out and other would be graffiti artists are deterred. Happy Thanksgiving! Will you be celebrating Italian style?

    1. Happy Thanksgiving to you Adri! Unfortunately, it is not a holiday so I am in the office working. Tonight I will be out to dinner with friends visiting from the US. We are going to the Giggetto restaurant in Rome’s Ghetto. They are famous from their carciofi alla Giudia. Yum!

  3. Hi,
    I had read about the vandal and fine before–probably in “Italian Reflections Daily” But I was glad to read that it is being fixed. I liked the picture of the “kissing selfie” using a phone camera with that huge photo outfit hanging around her neck. Skipped over to the Christmas tree story, which was before I had heard of your blog. I have enjoyed the St. Peter’s tree and Nativities in 2010 and 2012 and am now planning for the same in 2015.
    Have a happy Roman Thanksgiving!
    A presto

    1. Thank you Joan. I am not really celebrating Thanksgiving because I am getting ready to leave with the Pope tomorrow for Turkey! I have been feeling a little homesick though today thinking of all my family and friends gathering around tables and having huge Thanksgiving dinners.

  4. . . same here in Turkey with monuments defaced everywhere you look. At Persepolis in Iran the graffiti of the wealthy and ‘important’ has become ‘enshrined’ so to speak and it pointed out in the guide books – I would not advise trying to emulate them these days!

  5. Hi Trisha
    I had a huge argument with posters on Trip Advisor about this issue. I said the fine is tokenistic and what is really needed is way more security personnel and cameras not just at the Colosseum – which appears effective – but at all of Italy’s heritage sites.
    I pointed out that if anyone has climbed the dome of the Duomo in Florence they would see it covered in permanent marker on the ascent and the descent staircases. There are graffiti tags scratched into the 2000+ year old frescoes in Pompeii and Herculaneum. On my last visit to Herculaneum in October I noticed some new ones – they were dated 2014.
    At Pompeii’s Villa of Mysteries the famous frescoes of the Cult of Dionysus are virtually open slather. All that deters anyone placing graffiti on them is a rope barrier. No security guards – nothing. I stood there in absolute disbelief contemplating how easy it would be to vandalize this priceless treasure.
    It’s inconceivable that people graffiti on ancient monuments – but they do – fines won’t help and as stated, this guy left the country without paying. Fines are punitive. What is needed is the presence of security personnel – similar in numbers per visitor to those inside St. Peter’s Basilica for example.There is security all over the place in there – and rightly so.
    I just feel it’s a losing battle unless massive amounts of funding are sourced and spent to make these places more secure.

    1. I couldn’t agree with you more Kathy. Italy is blessed to have an incredible cultural heritage from Roman ruins to Renaissance masterpieces. The Italians need to find better ways of protecting it than slapping fines (that go unpaid). I am sure an Italian would say given the economic difficulties they have no money, but the bottom line is their historic/cultural treasures bring so much in to this country, protecting it should be a top priority.

  6. This story just ticks me off to no end. I read about these events and see the graffiti an disrespect to these historical sights all the time and it just angers me immensely. If it make anyone feel better, it’s not just Italy that bears the brunt of this abuse – I think a few years back there was a Chinese youth visiting Luxor with his family and tagged a series of hieroglyphs. They were able to track down this kid and the Chinese government made the parents apologize and there was all kind of shaming and public discipline brought down on this kid AND his family (whom he was traveling with). I agree with you wholeheartedly, Trisha about enforcing the protection of these historic monuments being a priority.

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