An Italian court has sentenced 69-year-old Franco Malosso to 28 months in prison for building a fake ancient Roman theatre in Arcugnano, northern Italy.
Malosso was also ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 euros and 3,500 euros in legal costs following a 10-year legal procedure. The court convicted him of illegal construction and the forgery of works of art.
The conviction came after Malosso spent years charging unsuspecting tourists 40 euros per ticket to visit what he presented as a genuine archaeological site. The structure was constructed from modern plaster, papier-mache, fibreglass, concrete, and cement.
Arcugnano is a small municipality situated near the historic city of Vicenza in northern Italy. The area lies within a region rich in genuine Roman heritage, making local historic sites popular with tourists.
Fabricated history on a hill
In April 2016, Malosso began constructing the imitation amphitheatre across a 5,000-square-metre plot on a hill in the heart of Arcugnano. He installed stone bleachers, cement columns, plaster statues, and a basin, while artificially aging the stones to give them an antique appearance.
Malosso claimed during guided tours that the site contained historical layers dating back to the Neolithic period, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. He even told visitors that Julius Caesar had attended performances at the site alongside Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, after returning from his Egyptian campaign.
Julius Caesar was a prominent Roman general who lived in the first century BC, while Cleopatra VII ruled Ptolemaic Egypt during the same era. The claim of a shared visit to a theatre in northern Italy was completely fabricated, yet the story initially gained widespread local attention.
The fraud grew so credible that Malosso managed to deceive the local municipality and secure an entry in a tourist guide funded by the European Union.
Uncovering the deception
The deception began to unravel later in 2016 when the Arcugnano town council filed a formal complaint regarding the site. Investigators dispatched professional archaeologists to inspect the hill and conduct scientific evaluations.
Archaeologists quickly determined that the entire complex was modern and built without required urban planning or landscape authorizations. Investigations formally confirmed that no genuine ancient ruins or archaeological remains existed beneath the hill.
Darius Arya, an archaeologist and the director of Ancient Rome Live, informed CNN that the entire project was senseless. He characterized the scheme as diabolical and terrible, noting the sheer scale of effort involved in fabricating an entire ancient landmark.
Controversy over demolition costs
Following the court verdict, authorities placed the fake amphitheatre under seizure and issued an order for its complete demolition. However, the plan to tear down the site has ignited a sharp debate over who should foot the bill.
Arya expressed concern regarding the disposal of public funds, stating that he would be sorry to see taxpayers paying money to remove the fake structure.
The mayor of Arcugnano took a firm stance in comments to the newspaper La Repubblica, declaring that he would not spend a single cent of public money on the demolition. For now, the elaborate plaster set remains standing on the hillside.
