After lying abandoned for years, the tomb of the emperor Augustus in Rome is at the centre of a row over plans to place a new roof on the ancient edifice and hold sound and light shows inside.
Occupying an entire block in the centre of the city, the circular tomb built in 28BC has suffered for centuries since the ashes of Rome’s first emperor were stolen by invading Visigoths in AD410.
Converted into a medieval fort, then a garden and then a bull-fighting ring and a venue for firework displays, the tomb became a concert hall in 1907 before Mussolini threw out the musicians, leaving three concentric outer walls, the highest 15 metres tall (50ft), around an open-air inner courtyard.
The tomb was closed