Monday,
August 11, 2008
The
ANNOTICO Report
While
2,2 million tourists visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa each year, only 299
people visited the Pisa's National Royal Palace Museum,
just a few blocks away, that is in a rambling 16th century palace that
served three royal households: the Medici, Lorraine and Savoy,
and sits amid medieval towers and buildings besides featuring works
by Raphael and Bronzino, in addition to the
commissions of generations of royal families, and having exhibited
important works rescued from Pisa's Civic Museum, destroyed by Allied bombing.
Among
the many archaeological parks, in the
somewhat remote region of
There
are more than 4,000 Museums
in
DISPATCH FROM
Take
the
The
By
Tracy Wilkinson
Staff Writer
August 10, 2008
He is the guard and greeter at the least-visited museum in all of
"I read a lot," Ra said. When a reporter wandered by, he practically
snapped to attention, eagerly offering the guest sign-in book, with its many
blank pages.
The image of
But not every jewel gets the same attention. Federculture,
a national organization that offers management advice to
The top two sites (or bottom two, actually) were archaeological parks in the
somewhat remote region of
Given that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is but a few blocks away, and gets
approximately 2.2 million visitors a year, the museum definitely has a problem.
"The whole world comes to
The disparity between the very visited and the lonely lose-outs develops
because there are simply so many things to see in Italy, and because the state
has failed to better package and promote what it has, said Giorgio Van Straten, a curator and head of Federculture.
Van Straten said
"There is no capacity for developing an integrated project," he said
in a telephone interview from
Until recently, Van Straten noted, many museum
directors viewed visitors as a disturbance or distraction. Bookshops and cafes
at museums were frowned upon.
The
Truth be told, the place is a bit musty and dark.
Many days, it simply doesn't open; even were a tourist to arrive, he or she
might be turned away. (Call ahead to ask if they're open and the answer is
likely to be, "It depends . . .")
The museum is in a rambling 16th century palace that served three royal
households: the Medici,
In addition to the commissions of generations of royal families, the museum has
exhibited important works rescued from
But experts say it may be inevitable that smaller or less significant museums
are shuttered or restricted to appointment-only tours by scholars.
"
wilkinson@latimes.com
Special correspondent Livia Borghese contributed to
this report.
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