The great Palatine hill where Rome was born is set to get a Telethon life-line amid claims that the government hasn't got enough cash to stop it collapsing.
Heritage body Italia Nostra has pledged to help the culture ministry and public broadcaster RAI set up a Telethon to raise the "minimum 20 million euros experts say is needed over the next three years to prevent half of the Palatine going down".
"The money collected by the ministry, seven million euros, isn't enough," said Italia Nostra chief Carlo Ripa di Meana.
"There's no time to lose".
"A Telethon can get the millions needed to save the Palatine, heart of Italy and its civilisation".
The Palatine Hill, site of the humblest early Roman settlements and the later opulent homes of emperors, is so shaky and riddled with rain-swollen holes that some experts think it could all come down in a heap.
Many of its villas, temples and residences have been closed because of subsidence.
"There's a widespread risk of collapse," Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said this week, launching the drive to make the area safe.
"It's time we got serious," Rutelli said, promising that the long-closed homes of the Emperor Augustus and his wife Livia will be re-opened next year.
Rapping past heritage authorities for making "piece-meal interventions that just shored things up," Rutelli said the new project would leave nothing to chance.
"We're going to fix this hill up, period. The project will be comprehensive, addressing stability problems and putting up new tourist facilities".
The engineer tasked with overseeing the works, Giorgio Croci, welcomed the new approach.
"Things have been scatter-shot up till now. Too many fingers in too many dykes," Croci said.
"Now, for the first time, the Palatine problem is being tackled as a whole".
Despite its glittering heritage, the Palatine is often ignored by Rome's ten million annual visitors.
Part of the reason is the steep climb up from the Forum.
Only a tenth of tourists can face the trek after they've toured ancient Rome's large heart and seen the Colosseum.
