How Much Does Rome’s ‘Priceless’ Colosseum Cost? It Finally Has A Price Tag

Ask how much a historic site costs, and you’ll be usually told it’s “priceless,” or not for sale. Bucking the trend, accounting firm Deloitte LLP has recently placed a price tag on Rome’s most iconic landmark, The Colosseum.

While tourists visiting the cultural site bring in US$1.4 billion to Italy each year, the company has estimated its “social asset value”—or the intangible value usually given to a monument—could be as high as US$79 billion.

According to Bloomberg, the consultancy says that its price tag represents not only the value bestowed upon the Colosseum by visitors, but also by most of the Italian public.

To determine the exact number, Deloitte launched an online survey on how much locals were willing to pay to preserve the asset, even if they made “no direct use of it.” 

Citizens in the capital pledged €90 (US$91) each, while Italians from other regions of the country offered €57 (US$58).

Considering the historic location is the country’s most-visited site, with seven million tourists making the trip to see it in person in 2019, it’s no wonder locals take so much pride in its significance. 

87% of the respondents said they believed the cultural attraction was the most important in the nation, with 52% of tourists indicating it was the main reason they had traveled to Rome.

As Fabio Pompei, CEO of Deloitte Central Mediterranean, put it: “The enhancement of the cultural and landscape heritage present in our country must become a priority on the agenda of national and local institutions.” 

[via Artnet News and Bloomberg, cover image via Rafael Ben Ari | Dreamstime.com]