Italy declares emergency for crumbling Pompeii site

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian government declared a state ofemergency at the Pompeii archaeological site on Friday to tryto rescue one of the world's most important cultural treasuresfrom decades of neglect.

A cabinet statement said it would appoint a specialcommissioner for Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by aneruption of the Vesuvius volcano in AD 79 and now a UNESCOWorld Heritage site.

"To call the situation intolerable doesn't go far enough,"said Culture Minister Sandro Bondi, who took office in SilvioBerlusconi's new conservative government in May.

Archaeologists and art historians have long complainedabout the poor upkeep of Pompeii, dogged by lack of investment,mismanagement, litter and looting. Bogus tour guides, illegalparking attendants and stray dogs also plague visitors.

Some 2.5 million tourists visit Pompeii each year, makingit one of Italy's most popular attractions, and many haveexpressed shock at the site's decay.

A report in daily Corriere della Sera this week said mostof the 1,500 houses at the site are closed to the public, itsfrescoes have faded to become almost invisible and restorationwork that began in 1978 has yet to be completed.

The "state of emergency", which the government said wouldlast for a year, allows for extra funds and special measures tobe taken to protect the site.

"Every year at least 150 square metres of fresco andplaster work are lost for lack of maintenance," AntonioIrlando, a regional councillor responsible for artisticheritage, told the newspaper.

"The same goes for stones: at least 3,000 pieces every yearend up disintegrating," he said.

A long-running dispute between local authorities over howto look after Pompeii has only made things worse.

Pompeii's superintendent Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, who willnow be flanked by the government's commissioner, said he hadlong denounced problems at the site -- from retired guards whohave not been replaced to the lack of a sewage system and poor"veterinary surveillance".

Two-thirds of the 66 hectare (165 acre) town, home to some13,000 people in the Roman era, have been uncovered sinceserious excavations began 260 years ago.

The remaining third is still buried, but Corriere said theground above it is being used as an illegal rubbish dump -- aresult of the trash crisis in the nearby city of Naples -- andis scattered with tyres, fridges and mattresses.

(Editing by Richard Balmforth)