Italy’s Culture Minister closed the Colosseum for a day after a 22-year-old worker died

Rome’s Colosseum was closed for a day on Wednesday after a worker died in an accident overnight while installing a new lighting system inside the ancient amphitheater. Italy’s Culture Minister, Alessandro Giuli, also ordered the suspension of all construction and maintenance work until further notice.

The victim was Andrea Moretti, a 22-year-old technician who fell from a height. Italian authorities are to establish the exact circumstances of the accident.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the worker’s death had caused “shock and profound sadness,” describing Moretti as a skilled worker.

Initially, only a partial closure of the monument had been announced, but the decision was challenged by CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union. The organization’s representatives said that people’s safety must take precedence over tourism interests and called on the Culture Minister to explain all the circumstances of the tragedy.

The incident comes less than a year after the death of a Romanian worker who was trapped under the rubble of a partially collapsed medieval tower near the Colosseum in November 2025. Built approximately 2,000 years ago, the monument is now Italy’s most visited tourist attraction.