RENOVATION TO MODERNIZE LUXOR UNDERWAY WHILE MANY FUME IN SILENCE

A large renovation and restoration project is currently underway in Luxor, home to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Golf courses, five-star hotels, and an IMAX theater will appear in the city and lights will flood the Valley of the Kings by 2030. The Supreme Council of Antiquities is also working to restore the sphinxes along the way between the Karnak and Luxor Temples.

Many buildings have been demolished as a result of the project, including the old bazaar in Luxor, and homeowners living in the construction zone have been bought out. "We just cleaned the houses, cleaned the streets. You'll never find a clean city like Luxor now in Egypt,” said Samir Farang, who heads the renovation project. 

Many, however, including residents, architects, and archaeologists, are not happy with the project. Very few are openly vocal for fear of the consequences from the government, such as imprisonment or cuts in funding. "They want it to be all asphalt and strip malls and shopping centers. That's their idea of modern and progressive,” said one resident. "Many buildings from many different periods have been erased, or will be, and I think that's entirely negative," added an architect who works on Egyptian heritage projects. "At the end of the day, you're left with a kind of Disneyland piece of pseudo-pharaonic stuff, and the rest of it is swept away." 

Some homeowners in the area are prepared to take a stand. "They do what they want, we do what we want," said a resident of Maris. "We will beat and be beaten, we will kill and be killed. After we die they can take our homes." Despite this and other requests to halt the project, Farang remains seemingly unconcerned about the opposition. “Just a few people, maybe I removed their houses or something like that, they want to criticize,” he said. “We're talking about destruction for the public good. There are victims for every development."


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PART OF NERO'S PALACE COLLAPSES IN ROME

A part of the ceiling of Rome’s infamous emperor Nero’s palace collapsed Tuesday as repair work was underway at the site. A section of the garden above the roof consequently fell into the palace. Officials reported no injuries.

Nero’s Golden Palace, or Domus Aurea, was built in the 1^st century AD. It was opened to the public in 1999 and was closed for a year in 2005 due to safety reasons cited by Italy’s culture ministry.

The portion that collapsed was constructed by Trajan as a bath area. Trajan’s gallery is not normally open to the public.

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POMPEII SNACK BAR REOPENS TO SERVE ANCIENT ROMAN CUISINE

A thermopolium in Pompeii, preserved under volcanic ash from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, is being reopened to the public after an extensive excavation and restoration project. A Roman thermopolium is comparable to a modern day fast food restaurant, in that it served ready-to-eat food to customers and was a popular hang-out spot for locals.

300 randomly-selected VIPs were chosen on Sunday to attend an advance opening of the ancient Pompeiian eatery. A snack bar at the thermopolium will be open to tourists to give a taste of Roman café life. The snack bar includes an L-shaped counter and a painting of Mercury and Bacchus facing its customers. The bar, which faces onto the Via dell’Abbondanza, would have been a popular lunch spot for many sections of society at Pompeii.

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