Take Back Rome

Only in Rome...

2011-06-06T07:00:00.003+02:00

Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome! Only in Rome!

Week of Culture in Rome

2011-05-02T07:00:00.000+02:00

"Culture is everything, be part of it" is the slogan of this year's Week of Culture. Organised by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage the week focuses wholly on culture and as in previous years the public will have free access to all state owned buildings. Events held at them will allow visitors to acquire a deeper knowledge of the same and feel love for art.

This is what the Official Tourist Website says about it. But take a look at this picture. This is Palazzo Spada, one of the most beautiful palace in the historical centre of Rome. A real masterpiece of Late Renaissance architecture. Take a look at the tourist sign. It's broken and half covered by graffiti. But none of them who organised the Week of Culture care about it. They covered it by horrible crush barriers! Is it what they mean for "Culture"? What a shame on them! And the romans people don't protest at all when they see these uncivil scenes? This is the way we use to solve problems: cordoning off the damage and postponing the solutions. Even around one of the most beautiful palace in Rome, even during the Week of Culture. We in Rome (and generally in Italy) completely don't know what the term "Culture" means! We are a mass of uncivilized peole! We don't deserve all these treasures as we are not able to preserve and enhance them. Inside this palace there's an amazing art gallery. Outside, we can see only degradation. What we were and what we are.

The broken windows theory

2011-04-04T07:00:00.000+02:00

The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the normsetting and signalling effects of urban vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. The theory states that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in a well-ordered condition may prevent further vandalism as well as an escalation into more serious crime.

The theory was introduced in a 1982 article by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. Since then it has been subject to great debate both within the social sciences and in the public debate. The theory has been used as a motivation for several reforms in criminal policy. The theory has received support from several empirical studies. At the same time it has also been the subject of a large body of criticism.

The reason why the state of the urban environment may affect crime may be described as due to three factors: 1) Social norms and conformity; 2) The presence or lack of monitoring; 3) Social signaling and signal crime. A major factor in determining individual behavior is social norms, internalized rules about the appropriate way to act in a certain situation. Humans constantly monitor other people and their environment in order to determine what the correct norms for the given situation are. They also monitor others to make sure that the others act in an acceptable way. In other words, people do as others do and the group makes sure that the rules are followed. (Source: Wikipedia)

Lungotevere of Destroyers

2011-03-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

At the basis of urban degradation, there is the writing on the wall. The well-known "Broken Windows Theory" is becoming the "marred walls theory" in Rome . In practice, if a vandal write on the wall (a tag, a piece of graffiti, a political phrase, a love inscription) and nobody erase that, the walls of the neighbourhood will be filled with other writings in a short time. The indifference to vandalish writings is caused by the habit to see the walls covered in graffiti which lead people to believe that writings on the walls are a normal thing. The Romans believe that walls are surfaces devoid of any aesthetical value so that is justified to use them as a whiteboard to write on it or paste a poster on it. As a matter of fact, going around the city, there's not even a wall left clean. Once in a while, politics wake up and announce an anti-graffiti plan that consists in a few repainted walls, invariably marred the next day. In this way, all comes to naught. On the contrary, a day-to day maintenance is needed. A squad that clean the walls everyday. Does it exist? Apparently yes, according to the new "Piano Decoro" (Decorum Plan) of the City of Rome : "Eight squads (with 24 operators) are committed to remove graffiti everyday" as it's written on the prospect. Fine, but what is the criterion by which they decide the walls to clean? It’s not clear at all, we just know that interventions are weekly planned by the secretary of the Coordination for Decorum. But if a just clean wall it's been soiled the very next day, do the Coordination for Decorum clean it right away or do they wait for some months? We will see this with the just clean walls on the center of town. In the meanwhile, this is the situation at Lungotevere degli Inventori, nearby Ponte Marconi: graffiti on the walls and shutters. (Les)

Citizens-removers are back!

2011-02-21T07:00:00.003+01:00

Did you miss us? As a matter of fact, we kind of disregarded the "antidegradation walks" in the last two months, among other things like holidays, travels and study, we didn't have much time to dedicate to "street spam-removing". But now, we're ready to start again and we did it in great style with a massive intervention in the Aurelio district. Where an interesting unit of virtuous citizens is growing up. In our blitz we primarily focused on flyposters, just as we learned the extension of the municipal decree against illegal posters. We would have wanted to cooperate with the municipal police – which followed with interest our action for a long time – but couldn’t inform them in advance. Anyway, we will contact them afterward, in the perspective of a greater cooperation with the forces appointed to fight this phenomenon. For the record, we removed about sixty flyposters from the poles, walls and any vertical surface, as many as those we removed from the windscreens and picked up many flyers from the floor. We also removed a dozen of illegal stickers of house movers. Enjoy the photos and remember: if you see a poster stuck on a pole, tear it off. If you see a flyer on a windscreen, remove it, before it falls to the floor. In the future, we're thinking about organizing an initiative in broad daylight, in the center of the town. We have a lot of ideas, but to put them in practice we need the involvement of you all. It's time to take the field in first person to defend our city. Do you want to take part to the next antidegradation walk? Get in touch.

The city of stalls

2011-02-07T07:00:00.001+01:00

The great invasion of stalls has reached unacceptable levels. Rome is the only city where the sidewalks are systematically invaded by stalls of any types, from stands of clothes to pedlars with goods on the sheets, up to the snack vans in front of the monuments. Stalls have always been present in Rome but now they're too numerous, they block the sidewalks obstructing the passage of pedestrians. Behind the roman stalls, there's always a "warehouse van" illegally parked on the carriageway and (who knows why?) the police never issue a fine on them. Only in Rome there are stalls on the bus platforms. In London it would be impossible. Only in Rome the stalls take possession of the sidewalks, compelling people to walk in single file. In Paris it would be impossible. Only in Rome the stallholders park their vans on the carriageway, on the curves, in front of the monuments. In Madrid it would be impossible. Not to mention that abroad the stalls have a pleasing design while in Rome are aesthetically horrible. Metallic scaffoldings that sell counterfeit goods and leave garbage on the floor once they clock out. Let's recap: the stalls in Rome are in evident surplus, they block the sidewalks, they stall in no parking zones, soil the ground, sell counterfeit goods and are bad-looking. Don't you understand that we must change? Less market stalls, more pleasant, with high quality goods, placed in order not to hamper the pedestrians flow. As it happens in the rest of Europe. Will the romans understand? It's improbable since they got used to confusion and look at the streets full of stalls as something normal. If you try to say something against the stalls, they reply: "What's the matter?" The classic expression that excuse anything in this miserable city. (Reportage and pictures by Les)

Roman Subway: San Paolo stop

2011-01-03T07:00:00.002+01:00

No, this is not an horror movie. This is reality. Here's Rome, and this is its subway (specifically: San Paolo stop). Thanks to Marco for the pictures. This part of subway is usually used by tourists, as it takes to the San Paolo Basilica. Hundreds, thousands of tourists that every day see this atrocious scene. Graffiti everywhere, illegal billboards and unauthorized posters in every wall. This is not the first post about this subway stop. See here, here and here for more information, in the italian blog Riprendiamoci Roma. After one year, the situation is still the same.

We live in the only european Capital that seems a real landfill. A sort of big favela, that extends everywhere from North to South, from East to West. A perfect example of how we Romans are uncivil. We are the new Barbarians! Rome is still invaded by Barbarians, Goths, Visigoths, Huns, Vandals. The AMA or the Urban Decorum Group don't clean the walls. Or, if they clean them, it's not sufficient, not enough for a city that is completely destroyed by Barbarians. So, we say help to you. Share this post and tell to the civil people how we Romans live in our city. The Eternal City is now threatened by the New Barbarians Invasion. And the Municipality is completely incapable to contrast them. Rome is becoming more and more dirty, degraded, horrible. When the roman monuments collapse, the city is becoming a real landfill. Vandals are destroying Rome. We want to save the Eternal City from its sad fate.

The Eternal City's residents fight graffiti

2010-11-01T07:00:00.000+01:00

From Time.com: On a blustery October day in the northern part of Rome, a group of nearly 100 volunteers spreads out along a leafy street and sets to cleaning. Pedestrian barriers are scraped free of rust and repainted in their original yellow. Old leaflets are peeled off walls. And graffiti, the group's main target, is either scrubbed away or painted over. "This street is the Wild West," says Paola Carra, who's overseeing the operation. "We need to maintain it ourselves. We can't wait for somebody else to do it." Many modern cities have trouble with vandalism, but Rome seems to be a case apart. Outside of the touristic center, it's a rare public surface that hasn't been plastered with leaflets or covered with graffiti: tags, slogans, declarations of love, outbursts against authority. And there are few signs that much is being done about it. In some areas, it's possible to come across scribbled celebrations of soccer championships from before the turn of the century. "Inside [people's homes], everything is perfectly clean," says pharmacist Maria Vitale, 47, as she heads out to the cleanup. "Outside, everything is dirty. There's trash on the ground. People don't clean up after their dogs." The problem, says Carra, 46, is the absence of personal responsibility. "We've lost our sense of community," she says. Carra's volunteers are part of an effort called Retake Rome that was sparked last year by American lawyer Rebecca Spitzmiller. Frustrated by the graffiti defacing her apartment building, Spitzmiller set out with her teenage son to clean it herself. Her dedication struck a chord, and soon she was joined by others in organizing cleanups of the city's parks, streets and monuments. Run by a dozen volunteers, Retake Rome uses a website and newsletter to coordinate gatherings once or twice a month. [...] (Read more)

Take Back Rome on ZDF

2010-10-04T07:00:00.000+02:00

Following an article on Repubblica newspaper about our antigraffiti project, we've been literally swamped with e-mails! We're proud to receive so many marks of respect and proposals of collaboration, a sign that people is getting angrier with graffiti proliferation. The biggest surprise was a request for an interview by German Broadcaster ZDF which wanted to document one of our initiatives. We jumped at the opportunity to make known the Civil World how bad things are going in Rome. Five of our volunteers met the journalist in Trastevere, where the cameraman took some shootings of the "Roman Havoc": Piazza Trilussa, the newly smeared balustrades of Ponte Sisto and Via dei Pettinari, an out-and-out museum of roman incivility. Subsequently our volunteers have been filmed while erasing some tags from the walls near Campo de' Fiori and a newsstand in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. In the meanwhile, a bunch of interviews to romans and tourists: all were disgusted by the writings on the walls. Waiting for the wake of the Italian television, there is nothing left for us to do but to rely on foreign Tv, increasingly stupefied with the unbelievable degradation in Rome. Thanks to Maurizio Gemmer for giving our movement visibility, the antigraffiti volunteers Marco, Les, Stefano, Daniele and Giovanni for the photo report. Extra thanks to Les for the translation. Keep this blog alive.

"Dirty city, wonderful sights"

2010-09-06T07:00:00.002+02:00

TripAdvisor is the most famous free travel guide and research website. It assists customers in gathering travel information, posting opinions of travel related issues and engaging in interactive travel forums. It's also an incredible "mine" of informations of how people see and what people think about Rome from all over the world. Unfortunaly, nothing news to say... only a sad confirmation of what we think and see every day. "Dirty city, wonderful sights". That's all.

We just returned from six days in Rome. This was our first trip to Europe and we had no idea what to expect. We found a city that was remarkably dirty, graffiti everywhere, beggars on the streets, horrendous traffic. That was the bad part. The great part was the coliseum, pantheon, palatine hill, and the forum. We were able to get a good guide outside the coliseum which included the fourm and Palatine hill. Wonderful experience! Don't be afraid to hook up with these guides that approach you in front of the coliseum, they were wonderful and offered other tours that were just as good. The food in Rome was not great, just good, but the little cafes are wonderful to sit at in the nice weather. We took a side trip to Pompeii which was very interesting. We didn't take a tour, but took the high speed train and local metro to the city of Pompeii and then walked to the ruins. It was an adventure. Six days in Rome was too much. I think 4 or 5 days would have been just right. (Freeneasy - Rhode Island, USA). Read all the opinions.

"It's just so sad and so devastating"

2010-08-09T07:00:00.000+02:00

From Wall Street Journal: On a recent afternoon, a group of American diplomats gathered on Rome's cobblestones with buckets and rollers, spreading peach-colored paint across the weather-beaten façade of a medieval storefront. Their mission: To cover up the swirls of graffiti lining one of Rome's oldest neighborhoods. "It's just so sad and so devastating," said Rebecca Spitzmiller, an American lawyer living in Rome, who donned rubber gloves and a dust mask. "We're retaking Rome." Ms. Spitzmiller had tapped the diplomats to join the volunteer force of Italian and American students she's recruited in recent months. They clean up after graffiti artists who have swathed the city's palazzos and piazzas in tentacles of spray paint. [...] An editorial in Corriere della Sera, Italy's biggest newspaper, scolded "fatalist Rome" for having surrendered to spray paint and praised Ms. Spitzmiller's squad for delivering "a good lesson in citizenship." Ms. Spitzmiller gives speeches on tidiness at Italian schools. Her talks have converted some students from potential taggers into "maniacal cleaners", she says. [...] Most of Rome's Baroque and Renaissance palazzos don't fall under the Urban Décor Squad's jurisdiction, leaving their owners to handle the cleanup. Those that live in the historic center need approval from national and municipal cultural superintendents to add a fresh coat of paint to their homes. [...] The city often requires residents to repaint the entire façade, not just the graffiti-covered sections, to avoid multi-hued patchworks resulting from touch-up jobs. The total cost of repainting the façade of a four-story palazzo can run as high as €40,000. Even the painters, however, must wrestle with bureaucratic obstacles. Lorenzo Lana, a painter who specializes in removing graffiti, recently spent nine months getting approval to remove a single tag. "The endless bureaucracy definitely puts people off", he says. As a result, tags — the term for spray-painted pseudonyms — can remain for years, encouraging other vandals who compete for territory. (Read the article).

Anti-degradation blitz at Ostiense

2010-07-26T07:00:00.001+02:00

First of all, I'd like to thanks with Les, Giovanni, Marcello and Alf from Tolleranza Punto Zero. Well done my friends! I was studying for my exam when they organized this blitz. Next time, I hope I'll be with you to fight against Rome's degradation. Thanks to all the volunteers. Post and pictures by Les:

Since last february flyposting is illegal in Rome. Did you notice? We didn't, seeing that every pole is wrapped in concert bills, for sale-for rent and any type of cards. The AMA don't remove them, the municipal police don't fine them and so they keep on attaching them. The "L'Ostiense" committee warned us about the demeaning billposting in their quarter and we made a quick visit to clean off some trash from the poles. From the railway bridge to Piazzale Ostiense we removed a lot of course ads, plastic garage signs, for sale-for rents and concert bills. The worst part was the wall corner between Via Ostiense and Roma-Lido station, that spot is a real dump of filth and posters on the walls. Turning the corner, alongside the station, more illegal posters and poles used as ad-boards by the newsagent nearby. We tore away a lot of useless waste paper and cleaned off the traffic lights of Piazzale Ostiense wrapped in disco posters. There was little time so we haven't made an exhaustive work but we still gave a signal to those braggarts who unlawfully appropriate the street furniture of our city. See you, for the next time. (Les)

Hell subway

2010-07-19T07:00:00.000+02:00

Here's a little reportage from Hell. We are inside the roman subsoil, in the subway. This is the Metro B, and the only name should frighten all of you. Here the temperature is about 50° C (122° F!) 'cause there's no air-conditioning. But you can only image those extreme conditions. What you can see are the wagons that are completely covered by graffiti and dirt. This is how Rome welcome tourists all over the world. A walk through Hell. We are talking about the most uncivilized Capital city in Europe. What should you expect from it? Look at the pictures in the slide. As you can see, there's a broken door (and this is not a rarity!). A stupid piece of paper says "Porta guasta, out of order". This is how we use to solve problems. You could return and control a week after, and the door will be still broken. In the pictures, you can see a big dog without muzzle. This should be forbidden (this IS forbidden!), but we are in Rome, and laws are never respected. Laws are just advises. "There's a law? Who cares!" Fatte li cazzi tua, Volemose bbene, we use to say. In the last picture you can see a syringe on the floor with the plastic bag of pharmacy near it. Nothing to say but shame. Incivilia (this is how we refer to Rome) is by far the most uncivilized Capital city in Europe. And it will be great if tourists (all tourists all over the world) stopped to come here to visit this rotten city. We are mad, we are primitive. We are not able to welcome tourists. We are uncivilized, we still live like cave dwellers. Please choose another city, if you like roman monuments you can see them in flickr images or somewhere in an art book. Incivilia is not a city: it's a dump, it's a Hell.

When in Rome...

2010-07-12T07:00:00.000+02:00

1) We just returned from six days in Rome. This was our first trip to Europe and we had no idea what to expect. We found a city that was remarkably dirty, graffiti everywhere, beggars on the streets, horrendous traffic. (tripadvisor.it)
2) I was sorry to see so much graffiti defacing a beautiful city and making it look "dirty". (fodors.com)
3) I love Rome because of the ancient visual art and architecture. I love the good food and speaking Italian. The down side though I feel is the grafitti, the drivers, beggers and other tourists! (travelexpertguide.org)
4) I love the italian people, and the aweasome narrow roads. I just didnt really expect so much graffiti. their was graffiti everywhere but it was stilll awesome! (travelexpertguide.org)
5) Arriving in Trastevere after nine days in Paris was like finding one's self suddenly in a version of Bosnia. [...] The ancient street the hotel is on is a total mess, with graffiti everywhere, trash, and actual garbage strewn around the cute little old "cisterna" fountain at the corner. The hotel itself I liked. (slowtrav.com)
6) The first problem in Rome is graffiti, it's everywhere and reminds me off New York at its worst but they appear to have left the historical sites alone. (tripreport.com)
7) Rome is fabulous, though I have to say we were disappointed to see so much graffiti around the place. (tripadvisor.it)
8) The graffiti was shocking [...] There is not a single mansion, church or historical monument in the city that does not have some form of desecration. (travbuddy.com)

As Rome modernizes, its past quietly crumbles

2010-07-05T07:00:00.000+02:00

The Eternal City is anything but. Collapses this spring at a couple of ancient sites here caused weary archaeologists to warn, yet again, about other imminent calamities threatening Rome's precarious architectural birthright. Meanwhile, the smart set went gaga when an ostentatious national museum for contemporary art, Maxxi, opened recently, along with an expansion to the city-run new-art museum, Macro. That was just after Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, convened a conference for planners and architects to mull a bid for the 2020 Olympics as an incentive to update Italy's capital. Contemporary architecture now promises to be the engine and symbol of a new creative identity for Rome that, if development is done right for a change, would complement the city’s glorious past. [...] A nation whose identity and fiscal survival rests on it now devotes .21 percent of its state budget (and that figure has been dropping), which is about one-fifth of the percentage that France devotes, to theater, film, exhibitions, music and museums, not to mention the upkeep of all those thousands of historical sites for which there is still no master conservation plan. [...] Exhibit A: the Domus Aurea, the Golden Villa that Nero built near the Colosseum, where a vaulted gallery fell this spring. Nobody was hurt, fortunately. That's because the place has been closed since 2008, plagued by structural problems and humidity, which threatens the frescoes. To much fanfare, the city opened part of the site for tourists in 1999. Then heavy rain collapsed a section of roof, the site was closed, reopened a while later, then closed again. [...] A commission assigned to address the problem spent millions but didn't forestall the latest mishap. "Everyone is paralyzed," Ms. Filippi said. "We have problems specific to this site and, yes, we have Italian problems, too." (Read the article).

Shame on you, barbarians

2010-06-28T07:00:00.001+02:00

Some days ago, when we read about the hateful act of vandalism against the statues of Resurgence Heroes at the Gianicolo Hill, we invited the blog readers to go to the "crime scene" and place a protest banner on the fallen statues. Two boys sent us an email with these photos. Three cards bringing emblematic phrases in Italian and English have been placed and attached to the bases of the statues with light scotch (it doesn't leave any residual). In order to express all the roman disdain in seeing our city in the hands of Barbarians. And we don't refer only to the stupid guys who damaged the statues. We told you. The fallen statues will be seized with Police tapes. And this is what happened. A temporary solution that is quite worse than the act of vandalism itself. Tourists couldn't believe in what they saw, such an intolerable ruination in the heart of one of the most beautiful and historically meaningful parks of Rome. If roman people are not able to preserve their city, Rome will die under the attack of vandals. The tourists commented favorably the initiative. A roman girl congratulated the two volunteers, suggesting the repetition of the initiative in other symbolic places abandoned and destroyed by negligence. We hope that the fallen statues will be restored as soon as possible, and the seizure of the lawn not repeated anymore. Otherwise, the shame will affect who will not be able to protect our national landmarks. We will start from now. Roman people are no more disposed to accept such disgusting scenes. We will look after this city, we will defend it.

ReTake Ponte Milvio

2010-06-21T07:00:00.001+02:00

This time Retake Roma took place at Ponte Milvio, where volunteers gathered to clean the graffiti and remove illegal advertisement on walls and poles. As we know, the "Generation Moccia" kids aren't satisfied by locking padlocks to the lamppost, so they write their love dedications on the travertine balustrade of one of the most ancient bridge in Rome (109 BC). We keep asking ourselves how the Comune di Roma can tolerate that a monument of such importance is vandalized by an herd of cavemen without saying a word. As if it wasn't enough, the Comune opted for a "light" restoration with average antigraffiti solvent. The result was barely sufficient. The solvent used by Protezione Civile isn't suitable for porous surfaces like travertine. In this case (and we're talking about an ancient Roman monument!) you can't entrust simple volunteers, you must charge a professional restorer for a sandblasting operation. It's expensive but is necessary due to the incredible state of degradation it's in. From this point of view, the "Squadra Decoro Urbano" is flunked again. We also got a negative opinion on this statement, which could represent a sort of authorization for a new invasion of padlocks. On the other hand, we have to praise the young volunteers of schools who took care of the urban furniture of the Piazzale, uprooting the weeds on the edge of the bridge and planting new, beautiful flowers on the central bed. Others "retakers" removed illegal posters, flyers and stickers from poles and walls.

ReTake EUR

2010-06-14T07:00:00.002+02:00

Last Saturday our friends of ReTake Rome organized a new antigraffiti initiative in Eur. The quarter, an out-and-out jewel of Rationalism, hasn't been spared by spray can vandals. Every wall is covered with graffiti, tags, political hate writings. That's incredible. Such a quarter, in any other European capital, would be perfectly preserved. Nevertheless, our uncivilezed fellow citizens compete for smear its walls, dirtying its parks. An unacceptable scenery that convinced the ReTake Rome volunteers to set here the new clean-a-thon, in collaboration with volunteers rushed from every corner of the city, assisted by the Comitato di Quartiere of Eur. Another time AMA helped with workers and tools in the graffiti cleaning. In the specific, everyone was given a kit with a flat brush and an antigraffiti solvent to be applied on the walls. Once chosen the streets to clean, the volunteers began to apply the antigraffiti gel on the walls and after ten minutes the Comune squads wash them with the hydro-cleaner. The high pressure jet of water finally melted the graffiti, although some walls remained marked by the oldest graffiti. However, the buildings look more beautiful now and the environment is definitely more pleasant. Viale Beethoven, Via della Fisica, Viale Tupini, the walls of SS. Pietro and Paolo parish, these are the places that profited by the intervention of American and Italian volunteers. We were present as Riprendiamoci Roma team and we focused on illegal bill-posting, pulling up the "vendesi" from the poles and the stickers form the electricity meters. In the slide show you can see the "before & after" ("prima"/"dopo") photographed by Les and Alessio. All things considered, the balance is quite positive. Despite the marble walls should require sandblasting. Just one remark: the Comune operators have forgotten to remove some white-red ribbons in one of the cleaned streets, probably fallen on ground.

Save the Colosseum!

2010-06-07T07:00:00.003+02:00

The Colosseum faces it's greatest risk in it's long history: the special commissionary for the safeguard of the archeological sites in Rome, Architect Roberto Cecchi, has decided to entrust the restoration of the monument, symbol for the whole history of ancient Rome, to construction enterprises instead of firms for the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage. Using the enormous decisional power, which he has inherited from Bertolaso (Head of the italian emergency protection service), the commissionary has downgraded the Colosseum: in the year 2000 a pilot project, conducted by conservation professionals and lauded worldwide, had been carried out, in order to pin down the correct application techniques. Now instead, drafting for the purpose a new and crude restoration project for the damaged surfaces, huge construction enterprises, on which converge the sympathy and trust of the commisionary, instead of firms for the conservation of cultural heritage, have been called to lay hand on the monument. This condemnable practice has already been adopted for a part of the Colosseum and other very important monuments of the Roman Forums, as for example the Temple of Antonino e Faustina, completely disregarding the law, which identifies in the conservation professionals the legitimate figure to carry out these delicate projects, in order to garanty the best possible conservation of the monument. The Special Commissionary, created to carry out the restoration works on the archeological monuments faster and better, has chosen to put their conservation in the utmost risk: an inappropriate intervention risks to remove the most significant layers of the monument's surface causing an unrecoverable damage; many monuments contracted by the public administration in Rome in recent years shared the same fate in the complete lack of interest by the media. Sign the petition brought forward by the Association of Italian Restorers (ARI) to abolish the Special Comissionary and save the roman monuments, recovering legality and the correct application of the applying laws. Sign, so that the 9th article of italian Constitution, which obligates the Repubblic to protect its cultural and artistic heritage, is rispected. The Colosseum is heritage to all of us! (Info here)

Rome's dirty little secret

2010-05-31T07:00:00.003+02:00

We all have them... secrets... sometimes small, sometimes big, sometimes innocent and sometimes dirty... and Rome is no exception...

From OttsWorld.com – I was ready to stand up, arm myself with my camera, and acknowledge the secrets of Rome, no matter how unpopular that might be. These dirty secrets manifest itself in trash, graffiti, homeless people, and construction. These items are actually littered all over Rome at the main sites, but we focus on the beautiful Colosseum or Pantheon, looking past the beggars and graffiti. Let me warn you though, the graffiti is EVERYWHERE. It's not just in the "bad" parts of town, or on the abandoned building. It's on the walls of buildings in the nice nieghborhoods, where people live every day and tourists walk through. The town is overrun with it – on the buses, on the trains, and on the phone booths. If I stood still too long – it would probably be on me! I'm used to seeing graffiti – I lived in NYC after all – however, it pains me to be walking through the streets of Rome and see a beautiful old door with graffiti all over it. I mean really... what did that door ever do to deserve that? It's probably good that I couldn't understand most of the writing as it was in Italian – else I really would have been depressed to see FU painted on someone's door... sort of like the scarlet letter. The worst area for graffiti seemed to be Trastevere – which is a travesty (hee... hee) as it's one of my favorite neighborhoods in Rome. (Read more)

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!

2010-05-24T07:00:00.000+02:00

I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!

Historic Rome marred by graffiti

2010-05-17T07:00:00.000+02:00

From BBC News: Opinions on graffiti are as diverse as the designs themselves, which either blight or brighten city walls the world over, depending on how you view them. The issue could not be more topical than in the Italian capital, Rome, where no less a person than the prime minister has immersed himself in the debate. In language as colourful as some of the sprayed daubings, Silvio Berlusconi described Italy's capital as "dirty" and "disfigured" by the graffiti. [...] "I hate it," said Reuben McQueen, a shop owner in the central historical area. "Look what they've just done," said Mr McQueen, pointing to freshly sprayed graffiti on the window of his shoe-shop. "It looks disgusting for the visitors to see this." Anne, an Australian tourist, was also upset to see the myriad lines, designs and general grime associated with the graffiti. "I can't believe it," she said. "Especially in central Rome which is so historic. It's a real disappointment." One estimate suggests there may be as many as 3,500 graffiti artists working in Rome - about 1,000 of them being so-called taggers who spray public buildings and walls. The ancient city centre, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, is home to some of the most stunning monuments and architecture to be found anywhere in the world. From the Trevi Fountain to the Coliseum, from the Pantheon to Bernini's Four Rivers creation in Piazza Navona, it has a rich fabric of history that many believe is gradually being unpicked by the sprayers. (Continue...)

ReTake Trastevere

2010-05-10T16:00:00.000+02:00

If we can see from the start how it'll turn out, the vast and varied antidegradation movement is destined to reach important goals. Saturday morning at least 100 people poured into the streets of Trastevere to remove posters and playbills, erase vandalish graffiti, repaint walls. Among the organizers, the American ambassadors, ReTake Rome and the Comitato Vivere Trastevere. This time they went the whole hog. There was also a sponsor, A.G.E.P. Hydrosoft, which provided antigraffiti products to the volunteers. Me and Giovanni engaged ourselves cleaning a wall and a shop roller shutter, while Marcello, Alfb and Luca removed tens of illegal posters. Unfortunately we have to point out the absolute dilettantism of the AMA operators' direction. On travertine they applied a very viscous product that didn't penetrate the marble pores and the writings didn't go away. It must have been done with the sandblaster. In lack of that, it would have been better to use the antigraffiti detergent to clean rolling shutters, street signs, lamp posts, cast iron bins and metal surfaces. Complete dilettantism also for the choice of the paint. The shades were all wrong. Someone even applied the paint on the posters attached to the walls. Apart from that, the enterprise of Saturday it’s been a promising start. Now the decorum question is finally on the agenda. We have the intention to repeat the initiative going back to clean front doors, roller shutters and all the things we weren't able to do on Saturday. We thank the American friends of ReTake Rome, Comitato Vivere Trastevere and the residents of the rione who helped us to repaint the walls. Here you'll find the articles from Corriere della Sera, here the one by La Repubblica.

Rome suffers attacks by new vandals

2010-05-03T16:00:00.000+02:00

An old article by BBC, dated 5 August 2004, says: Rome suffers attacks by new vandals. A new spate of vandal attacks upon some of Rome's best known monuments - including the decapitation and mutilation of several famous statues and monumental fountains - is worrying city authorities. Vandals are no strangers in Rome. They have been sacking the city, on and off, ever since the fall of the Roman Empire. But randomly and wantonly chipping off pieces of marble from monuments which have adorned the city for centuries is something new in recent times. It began in July, near the Piazza del Popolo. The feet, arms and faces of three marble statues, one of them dating back to ancient Rome, were smashed by unidentified vandals. They used paving blocks torn up from the road. The next target was the Fountain of the Bees, at the entrance to the Via Veneto. This was built to the design of the famous Roman 17th Century sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini. Last month, a passer-by refreshing himself from one of the water jets flowing into the fountain basin noticed that the head of one of three giant marble bees perched there had been lopped off, and informed the police. No-one was able to say for certain exactly when this had happened. [...] Perhaps the most obvious signs of the new vandalism are the spray-painted graffiti which smother the lower part of the walls of practically every building in central Rome. It is a losing battle, according to Cecilia Bernardini, a professional art and stone restorer who accompanies the cleaners on their rounds. [...] But No arrests have been made in connection with either of these attacks. What happens in Rome, it looks incredible for a civil country.

Dirtiest metro in Europe

2010-04-26T16:00:00.000+02:00

From Travbuddy: I was for the first time in Rome. I went here by train - the whole night from Milan just for the one-day-visit in the eternal city. Then - after having made such beautiful and great experiences i rode the other entire night to Milano back - to my friends where i left my big luggage, going down to the south only with my small backpack. The metro in Rom has still only 2 lines. It's dirty, smelly and grows very slowly, but - it is still my fave transportation mean! But as the matter of fact, it's probably the most covered with graffiti metro i've ever saw! It is really THAT bad. The Italian have bought some new trains for Rom's Metropolitana lately, but I am scared to look at them now, they can be covered with those almost graffiti as well. I don't like this my blog entry, cuz i have complained here all the time - especially about Rom, which is sad since I love this city, I like Italy in general as well. Every time I'm traveling there - I stop for a while to be at least few hours in the eternal city.

Few years later (2008): My next visit in Metropolitana di Roma and the whole line A is running on new trains, but the stations look the same ugly and depressive there is though still hope for the brand new line C, which is in contruction since few years and should be partly opened very soon. Let's pray for the better designed stations for ROMA!

(by jegs76 - Zielona Gora, Poland)

Rome: disappointingly dirty!

2010-04-19T16:00:00.001+02:00

From TripAdvisor forum: I went on my first ever trip to Rome in March and loved it. The culture, the food, the wine was all what I had expected and more. But it is a filthy city, I am very sorry to say. I saw this in a number of areas - firstly when I took a train to Lake Braciano and saw all the rubbish that is just strewn about on the rail lines. Then I went to the beach in Ostia, where the entire strand is full of rubbish. The worst feature of the trip was the state of the public toilets however. How can a city with such a history and such a reputation for being cultured have such a low standard when it comes to hygiene? Especially when millions of tourists land here every year. The mind boggles, I cannot understand if this is normal for Italians, so they do not realise that tourists are horrified when they find the toilets in such a state, or is it that they simply don't care? [...]

I cannot explain how Italians can be so dirty. Every other aspect of my trip was top-notch, I found most of the people very friendly. It is sad really, that I and others like me can come here with great expectations and leave with this vision of Italians. Perhaps it is that more education in hygiene is needed? Or simply a change of attitude.

(by firsttimetraveller40 - New York)

The Roman Schools

2010-04-12T16:00:00.000+02:00

I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - I WILL NOT write on the walls - [...continue...]

ReTake Rome, anti-graffiti volunteers

2010-04-05T16:00:00.000+02:00

Second anti-graffiti appointment organized by Retake Rome, with the collaboration of the Fondazione Garibaldi and the American University of Rome. A wonderful day dedicated to civic voluntary for a city without graphic vandalism. Also AMA had the will to join the meeting and supplied tools and workers for the operation: 15 refuse collectors, two hydro-pressure cleaners for graffiti, gloves and a big brush to apply anti-graffiti solvent. 10 am, the appointment was at the obelisk. Retake Rome volunteers wore green clothes, two of them had posters to promote the initiative. On the whole, 30-40 volunteers. Dino Gasperini, managing director for the Historic Centre, was present too. And obviously Riprendiamoci Roma was there. First we cleaned the little bridge that stands over Via del Muro Torto, some statues and fountains and two little buildings inside Villa Borghese. We used an anti-graffiti solvent and the hydro pressure cleaner to clean the walls. We also re-painted the plastered walls with the same colour. The Riprendiamoci Roma volunteers (Marcello, Margherita, Marco, Les and Daniele) cleaned also a big gate from graffiti. As a whole, we removed about thirty tag. At the end of the day, we had a pic-nic on the grass of Villa Borghese, to celebrate together the result of our good job. We thank our american friends for their brilliant initiative, their love and dedication to their adopted city. In our opinion, they surely deserve an award.

Citizens-Removers at Lungotevere

2010-03-29T16:00:00.000+02:00

The second blitz of Citizens-Removers took place saturday morning at Lungotevere. This time our group was decimated by flu and last minute engagements but availed itself of the collaboration of two new volunteers, Stefano and Daniele. The photos you see above are so terrifying that seem to come out from an horror movie. How come that Rome is reduced to this crazy degradation is a real mistery. Let's talk about the blitz. First, we cleaned two control units next to Ponte Garibaldi and Lungotevere de' Cenci. The second one was so much covered with illegal posters that danger signs were completely hidden, any cleaning operator might be killed if they inadvertedly open the unit while removing posters. This is totally crazy, an attack to public security that any civil country would punish with a storm of arrests. But here in Rome, everything is allowed. Like the billposter that was sticking posters on the recently restored façade of historic Palazzo Falconieri, leaving his three-wheeled vehicle in double queue. For the record, we obliged him to remove his posters and slip off like a thief. On our way back we cleaned again one of the control units soiled in the meantime. The last photos show a town placard collapsed to ground and delimited by an absurd barrier, then the electoral leaflets of Zaratti (in conflict with the recent anti-flyiers decree). Thanks to all the participants, Marcello for the photos, Les for the organization and Viola Giannoli, the journalist who was present at the blitz and wrote an article for Repubblica website. See you next time!

Citizens-Removers at Via Nazionale

2010-03-22T15:00:00.000+01:00

Did you miss the citizens-removers? Now we're back. We are more than ever and in great shape! This time we've prepared two separate blitz: the first took place in Via Nazionale on friday night, the second in the Lungotevere, saturday morning. The first blitz has been organized in collaboration with "Er Transenna" and two girls from Legambiente section of II Municipium. Meeting at 21.00 in Largo Magnanapoli. The walls of Villa Aldobrandini appeared "clean" (the poster had been pull away with the classic "Mimmo Rotella effect", typical of AMA intervention). Just a few meters towards Via Nazionale and the worst begins. The same old "favela" of paper on the facade of a former theater now closed and humiliated by the fury of bill posters, the modern vandals paid by the politicians to devastate our city. Then another building completely wrapped up with posters and we find ourselves at the crossing of Via Milano's tunnel. We're in front of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and from here we see an endless series of big faces. The faces of the politicians that commissioned the devastation of our city. They are the same persons that expect our vote to govern this city, this region, this country. Boorish politicians that use Middle Ages methods, a group of bunglers, attackers of urban decorum. The Citizens-Removers have removed illegal posters and hid the faces of the candidates along Via Nazionale. Thanks to Marco for the excellent photo-report and to the other participants.

Only in Rome...

2010-03-15T15:00:00.000+01:00

I WILL NOT throw garbage on the street. - I WILL NOT throw garbage on the street.

I WILL NOT throw garbage on the street. - [...continue...]

New blitz in Via Nazionale

2010-03-08T16:00:00.000+01:00

Decree against unauthorized posters? Whatever! Balanced disarmament? Come on! In politics facts don't matter. It suffices a proper announcement made for tv news. However, no municipal team will verify the state of the streets. The average citizen is careless and too much lost in his business to realize what's going wrong. So the task of investigative journalist is carried out by anti-degradation blogs, programs like "Le Iene" or "Report" and those few papers (namely "Il Corriere della Sera") that took to heart our fight against illegal posters. Dear Readers, resign yourselves, the walls of Rome are wrapped as ever and they will remain in this way untill the end of the electoral campaign. And AMA (the municipal clean-up team) will keep on scold us like yesterday for dirtying the sidewalk. Yes, you heard right. Is our fault because this time we didn't have enough bags to hold the amount of waste paper glued on the walls of Villa Aldobrandini. We ask the AMA operators (hoping they read our blog): Do you scold as well the shops that leave garbage bags, frequently open, on the streets anytime? And what about the youngsters that turn Trastevere and Campo de' Fiori into a cemetery of empty bottles? Btw, at the end of the blitz we left the sidewalk perfectly clean. At last we thank the AMA operator for giving us more plastic bags. Balance for the blitz: we removed and hid the illegal posters in Largo Magnanapoli, Via IV Novembre and Via Nazionale, then we reach the Piccolo Eliseo Theater and the tunnel of Via Milano. Thanks for your participation. They remit, we clean.

1st blitz against illegal posters

2010-03-01T16:00:00.002+01:00

The 8th Anti-Degradation Walk took place yesterday night in Largo Magnanapoli, at the beginning of Via Nazionale. It was organised by some anti-degradation blogs, such as Riprendiamoci Roma, Degrado Esquilino and Tolleranza Punto Zero, with the partecipation of a group of common citizens (among which some Skyscrapercity forumers). We had in mind to tear up the illegal politic poster sticked on the walls of the historic Villa Aldobrandini. We came there, and... surpise! The illegal posters were all pulled away, leaving no trace of them. Degrado Esquilino showed us a video (shooted by himself) about a cleaning action by AMA (the public utility in charge to remove them from the wall) 3 hours before our blitz. Only a coincidence? Onestly, we don't not. But it's hard to believe, because AMA never cleaned that wall and the clean-up team pulled away only the posters we are going to tear up, leaving the nearby ones on the walls. No problem, we started to pull away all the posters on the opposite wall, between Largo Magnanapoli and Via 24 Maggio. There was an old and vacant shop, completely covered by illegal posters, even on the closed windows, as you can see in this picture. It's difficult to describe how disgusting it was. We "eradicated" about 30 posters, leaving no trace of paper sticked on it. At the end of the blitz, the wall was so cleaned as it was new, instead of the opposite one, cleaned by AMA, that seemed a work of art made by Mimmo Rotella. In the pictures you can see also the second blitz, on the showcases of another shop in Via IV Novembre. Totally, we removed others 30 posters, so many layers of paper! Thank you all, and I hope to see you soon for the next blitz.

Citizens-Removers

2010-02-22T09:01:00.000+01:00

If someone told me one year ago that one day I will live such a night, I wouldn't have believe 'em. But it's really happened! Today we can say that a new, strong and concrete movement against Rome degradation is finally born! We're about to tell you the story of the first anti-degradation blitz organized by the Coordination of Roman Blogs. The blitz against illegal electoral posters of politicians brought together a number of blogs and associations: Residenti Campo Marzio, Residenti Città Storica, Degrado Esquilino, Tolleranza Punto Zero, Riprendiamoci Roma (aka Take Back Rome), the Committe for Urban Decorum of III Municipality, the forumer of Skyscrapercity Rome and many other people drawn by the appeal launched on various anti-degradation blogs. A massive partecipation we didn't expect even in the most optimistic prevision. It was needed to go down in the streets around Piazza del Popolo in the cold night and remove with spatulas a great amount of illegal electoral posters. We completely cleaned the walls "adopted" by the blog Residenti Campo Marzio and the former Adnkronos News Agency building in the corner between Via della Frezza and Piazza Augusto Imperatore., next to Gusto Restaurant. Then we went to Piazzale Flamiinio, where the posters were pasted even on the Roman Gate "Porta del Popolo" (!) and hide them with our handbills ("Who wrap up Rome must be rejected!"), the same we did with the posters put along the walls of Via Maria Cristina. It's been a liberating, funny, joyful night. We thanks all of you for being part of it and now that we met togeter, let's keep in touch.

The Sack of Rome

2010-02-15T09:01:00.000+01:00

The invasion of illegal billboards seems unstoppable. And I don't know why no one is trying to draw the line at this barbaric "Sack of Rome", even if newspapers and blogs cotinue to write articles with incredible orrifying images. Billboards standing in front of the Aurelian Walls or taking up paying car parks, positioned on the blu lines that edge the paying parking zone. Tons of billboards hiding each other. Rome is prisoned and annoyed. A Town Councillor said to Degrado Esquilino Blog that he is completely powerless towards this invasion. He suggests all citizens to take the electric saw and crush the billboards themself. Anarchy in Rome. In those days Take Back Rome editorial staff took many pictures of billboards around the city and compared them with the images in google streetview, dating back to one year ago. As you can see from the comparison today/one year ago (oggi/un anno fa in the slide footnotes), many new billboards appeared along Rome's street in the last year. Pay attention to the red arrows and make the comparison. Isn't it crazy? Watching those pics we can estimate that the total amount of billboards is incredibly increased. If you want to try, look for and take pictures of billboards along Rome's street and compare them with google streetview images. It's more easy than you can image. You can recognize the new ones looking at the stakes thrusted in asphalt. If they are not covered by grass and the cement around them looks fresh, then take a picture and compare it with google street images of the same street one yers ago. Finally, send the two images to us. We will post them in our blog and send them to the newspapers.

Take Back Rome

2010-02-11T09:01:00.001+01:00

Take Back Rome. A blog to complain and to combat the degradation of Rome directly on the ground. Our intention is to bring the protest against it in the squares, streets, among the people. To do this we need you, so many people like us who loves their city and are willing to spend part of their time to defend it. Not only reports and complaints but real blitzes on the model of Guerrilla Gardening but-oriented to fight the degradation for the cleanliness of our city. Therefore no violence, no police teams. We only want to create a network of active citizens in the territory, district by district. For every anti-degradation blitz we will leave a sign of our passage, in the attempt to involve more people in our struggle. It is very important that those responsible for this degradation to know that we are no longer disposed to accept and tolerate their barbaric practices. So take back Rome, take out it from the hands of bad Romans that don't love their city. Together we can do it.