Italy is drawing up anti-terrorism measures to protect its cultural and archaeological sites in the wake of bomb attacks on London, Culture Minister Rocco Buttiglione said on Monday.
"We don't want to send the wrong message, our museums are safe...but in these times of international terrorism we must make our museums even safer," Buttiglione said at a news conference to unveil a new archaeological find.
"We are studying measures to, above all, defend visitors," he said. "We have made a list of all of Italy's cultural heritage sites and are defining which are at highest risk."
Buttiglione said the measures were being worked out with the Interior Ministry and would be implemented quickly. He said an increase in security guards, surveillance cameras and the use of metal detectors as well as a ban on purses and backpacks would be among the measures, some of which are already being put in place.
Buttiglione has refused to say which sites are at highest risk but security experts point to museums such as the Uffizi in Florence and tourist hotspots such as the Colosseum in Rome and the Leaning Tower of Pisa as possible targets. Security at the Leaning Tower of Pisa has come under scrutiny after a journalist staged a stunt at the weekend proving he could give guards the slip.
Not only did he manage to get an oversized backpack into one of Italy's most famous monuments, he then wandered around the tower for two hours and left the bag unattended at the top of the tower without attracting the attention of guards.
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