Rome, Jan 13 (IANS/AKI): Italy's museums and monuments had their "best ever" year in 2015, drawing a record 43 million visitors, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini has said.
"It's the best result ever in our country's history, an all-time record for Italian museums " Franceschini said. The museums earned 155 million euros of revenue.
Visitors to Italian museums have increased by 4.5 million over the past two years and climbed 2.5 million over the last year alone, reversing a negative trend seen in other countries, Franceschini said.
Italy's healthy museum attendance owed to new government policies including free admission to museums on Sundays that "brought people into contact with Italy's magnificent history", he added.
The top attractions in 2015 included Rome's 2,000 year-old Colosseum (visited by over 6.5 million people) and the ancient Roman city of Pompeii (2.9 million).