Archaeologists lament the collapse of the House of Gladiators in Pompeii.”  The Italian newspaper, La Republica, called the collapse a “world scandal.”   The Italian government’s cutting funds for heritage conservation was blamed and 800 cultural institutions in Italy closed in protest.  Heritage experts claim that other monuments in Italy are on the brink of destruction. “With no maintenance and non-existent funds, the entire country is at risk. From Bologna’s twin towers to the dome of Florence’s Cathedral and Nero’s Golden House in Rome, many other monuments could be reduced to rubble,” Alessandra Mottola Molfino, head of the environmentalist lobby Italia Nostra, told the daily Corriere della Sera.