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Over 8.9 mln visitors flock to Italy's museums in Q1

Xinhua,May 03, 2018 Adjust font size:

ROME, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Over 8.9 million people visited Italy's state museums in the first quarter this year, the Culture Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

That figure represents a 23.33 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017, according to the statement.

Tuscany saw the biggest increase in museum admissions in January-March (43 percent), followed by the Lazio region where Rome is located (31 percent), and the southern Puglia region in the heel of Italy's boot, at 23.15 percent.

Last year saw 50 million visitors flocking to the national state museum system, which includes monuments, galleries, and archaeological sites -- an absolute record since World War II, the ministry said.

State museums and sites include the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, the Paestum Archeological Park near the southern city of Salerno, the Ducal Palace in the northern city of Mantova, Rome's Colosseum, and Pompeii, the ancient Graeco-Roman city at the base of Mt. Vesuvius that was preserved in lava after the volcano erupted in 79 AD. Enditem