On February 8, the Ministry of Justice of Lithuania registered a new religious structure – an exarchate, which will be subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Thus, two Orthodox churches will be officially recognized in the country: one belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the existing diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate in Lithuania.
The new religious community has ten clergy and plans to form governing bodies in the near future. It is now led by the Estonian priest Justinus Kiviloo, who held his first service in Lithuania at the beginning of January 2024. The remaining priests previously served in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC): six in Lithuania, two in Belarus and one in Russia.
Patriarch Kirill’s support for the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine is the reason for the creation of the new exarchate. This position led to a conflict between nine clerics and the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2022, Vilnius and Lithuania Metropolitan Innocent removed five of them from ministry, and Patriarch Bartholomew reinstated them and accepted them under his jurisdiction. In March 2023, Patriarch Bartholomew visited Vilnius and signed an agreement with the Lithuanian government to establish the Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the country.
The Diocese of the ROC in Lithuania reacted calmly to the appearance of the new church. Metropolitan Innocent said that the new religious community must be accepted as a “reality of our time”.
Local media have noted that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the ROC diocese in Lithuania has sought greater independence from the Moscow Patriarchate.
There are 105,000 Orthodox believers in Lithuania, most of whom are Russian-speaking. Orthodox Christians are considered one of the nine traditional religious communities in the country.
“We don’t want you to change the culture of Yemen or the Middle East, we just ask for the right to exist. Can we accept each other?”
Hassan Al-Yemeni* was imprisoned on the charges of espionage just for converting from Islam to Christianity, the religion of the West. His story is one of many told and untold stories of persecution and discrimination in the Middle East and North Africa.
He led the call for the EU to raise the plight of religious converts in their foreign relations with MENA counterparts at an event yesterday to launch Open Doors’ World Watch List, an annual index listing the most dangerous places to live as a Christian.
The audience at the European Parliament, consisting of MEPs and their staff, EU diplomates, and EU-based NGOs heard stories of Christian converts in Muslim-dominated countries; people without identity, persecuted by their governments and rejected by their communities.
The event hosted by MEP Miriam Lexmann (EPP) and opened with remarks by MEP Patrizia Toia (S&D) was dedicated to the presentation of the 2024 World Watch List (WWL 2024) by Open Doors, an annual report which ranks the countries where it is most difficult to profess and practice the Christian faith.
Released and presented at the European Parliament at the beginning of each year, the list uses extensive research, data from Open Doors field workers, their in-country networks, external experts and persecution analysts to quantify and analyse persecution worldwide. This year’s list covers the period 1 October 2022 – 30 September 2023.
Cristian Nani (Open Doors Italy) presented the top 50 countries where Christians experience the highest levels of oppression and outlined the main trends captured by the Christian NGO in 2023.
At least 365 million Christians live with very real threats to their lives, livelihoods and church communities because of their faith globally. 1 in every 7 Christians is touched by this phenomenon. 4998 Christians killed worldwide in faith-related attacks. Figures likely run much higher, but many go unreported.
Most of these killings, recorded by Open Doors, were in the south of the Sahara Desert, including Nigeria (6).
The threat from Islamic militants in sub-Saharan Africa has intensified to the point where many Christians in the region feel increasingly fearful. Radical Islamic elements exploiting unstable political conditions is a common thread across the African continent. The fractures in governance and security have opened the door for the jihadist activities seen, for example, in Burkina Faso, Mali (14), Mozambique (39), Nigeria and Somalia (2).
North Korea (1) remains the most dangerous country in the world to exercise the Christian faith, with its regime having zero-tolerance policy for Christians.
A staggering 14,766 attacks, closures and demolitions of Christian churches, hospitals, schools and similar buildings has been recorded in WWL 2024, compared to 2,110 in the previous year – WWL 2023.
Open Doors supports Christians by protecting and promoting their right to freely believe, worship, and practice their faith alone or with others, free from intolerance and discrimination. It is for that reason that the presentation at the European Parliament was focused on Christian converts from other religions, including Islam. Those are the communities that are often the most forgotten and most affected by persecution.
Open Doors’ FoRB policy priorities for the EU, as presented at the EP, were about recognizing the interdependence of FoRB and other human rights, encouraging interfaith and interreligious dialogue and integrating FoRB analysis into its’ foreign affairs initiatives.
Hassan Al-Yemeni from CDSI Foundation, along with Kamal Fahmi from Set My People Free and Dr Yassir Eric from Communio Messianica reflected on human rights violations that come from the society and government in countries like Yemen (5), Sudan (8) because of one’s conversion to Christianity.
“If you want to measure democracy, we should look at how countries deal with conversions. Whether people can exercise their inherent right to think and change their belief” says Dr Yassir Eric.
In many countries, recanting Islam is considered the crime of apostasy punishable by death or imprisonment. The case of Sudan stands out as a positive example of abolition of the country’s apostasy law and therefore shows a sign of hope for religious minorities in Muslim-dominated countries. Dr Eric adds “this [change of law] means it is not impossible to grant the freedom of conversion in MENA”.
The speakers appealed to the European Union raise human rights concerns of those facing violations for simply exercising their fundamental freedom to choose one’s belief.
Notably, Frans Van Daele, the EU Special Envoy on FoRB outside the EU, addressed the audience to reflect on his mandate. He underlined the depth and breadth of FoRB concerns across the globe and said he tries to be diplomatic and never to appear to “impose the Western point of view”. He seeks to build upon the existing relations with third countries and use the knowledge of his EU colleagues at the EC and EEAS.
About Open Doors
Open Doors International is a global membership organisation with 25 national bases that has supported and strengthened persecuted Christians for more than 60 years and works in 70 countries. Open Doors provides practical support to persecuted Christians such as food, medicines, trauma care, legal assistance, safe houses and schools, as well as spiritual support through Christian literature, training and resources.
To arrange an interview with speakers, Open Doors representatives, contact Anastasia Hartman at [email protected]
In “St. Sofia of Kiev” the Constituent Assembly of the public organization “Sofia Brotherhood” was held. The participants of the meeting elected the chairman of Archpriest Alexander Kolb and members of the Board of Directors of the brotherhood. The event was held within the framework of the Forum for the Unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, which was held on the territory of the National Reserve “St. Sophia of Kiev”.
The Sofia brotherhood positions itself as an association of Orthodox Ukrainians — believers from the UOC, OCU and other local churches. The main goal of the activity of the brotherhood is comprehensive support of inter-Orthodox dialogue to achieve the unity of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, unification of efforts and support of initiatives of Orthodox Christians aimed at its development.
The round table “Church, Society, State: Dialogue for Unity and Victory” was held within the framework of the forum.
For quite a long time, Ukrainian Orthodoxy suffered from division and hostility. Repeated attempts to overcome the schism, however, were constantly met with both covert and open resistance from the Moscow Patriarchate. In particular, the sincere desire of the Ecumenical Patriarch to heal such a division by returning the part of Ukrainian Orthodoxy that was in schism to church communion by giving the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) a Tomos for autocephaly, not only did not find support in the Russian Orthodox Church and in its satellites in Ukraine, but it also became a kind of trigger for them to create and deepen a schism in Universal Orthodoxy. It became increasingly obvious that the Moscow Patriarchate was only interested in expanding its own influence over the Orthodox world and would not let anyone out of its “canonical claws”.
The large-scale Russian aggression that began on February 24, 2022 became a turning point and a bloody point in the history of both the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Despite Moscow Patriarch Kirill’s misleading statements about the “united nation” and the “united Orthodox congregation”, the Russian Orthodox Church took a course to justify the bloody war and blessed the aggressor for the “sin of Cain”. The commandments of God, the teachings of Christ and the holy fathers of the Church ceased to be an authority for the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which in its words and actions was already based on the criminal ideas of the Russian dictator and the instructions of the all-powerful FSB. Under these conditions, Patriarch Kirill had neither canonical nor moral right to be “great master and father” for the multi-million Ukrainian congregation. It was this that pushed part of the Ukrainian clergy to decisive action.
On April 10, 2022, Archpriest Andrii Pinchuk, a cleric of the Dnipropetrovsk Diocese of the UOC, made a video address to the Council of Prelates of the Ancient Eastern Churches, in which he called for a council to condemn the “Russian Peace” doctrine raised by the Moscow Patriarch, as well as for bringing Patriarch Kirill to canonical responsibility and depriving him of the right to occupy the patriarchal throne.
A group of clerics from different dioceses was formed around the call to the Eastern Patriarchs, who are trying to find ways to solve the pressing problems of the Church’s development. Various online meetings are held at which representatives of the administrative structures of the Kyiv Metropolitanate, scientists, theologians, bishops of the UOC, etc., are invited to communicate.
The holding of such meetings, as well as the creation of groups on social networks, lay the foundations of an informal association of clergy, whose media mouthpiece is the Voice of the Clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on the Facebook social network.
The Minister of Culture denounced the Netflix series
“Netflix’s Alexander the Great series is ‘fantasy of extremely poor quality, low content and full of historical inaccuracies,'” Greece’s Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said on Wednesday, reports Kathimerini.
The series “The Making of a God” caused controversy in Greece because it touches on a sensitive subject, as it involves a homosexual relationship between Alexander the Great and Hephaestion.
“None of the elements of the personality of Alexander the Great are demonstrated in the show, which does not serve the historical truth,” Mendoni stressed while speaking in parliament, responding to a question from the leader of the Nike religious party Dimitris Natsios, who asked if the government planned to take action against the production.
“All elements of the personality of Alexander the Great are not highlighted in the Netflix series, which does not serve the historical truth,” the minister said, but added: “However, you must know that the concept of love in antiquity is broad and multidimensional.”
The discussion took place as parliament debates a law on same-sex marriage that is expected to be voted on today.
The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has officially announced that it has completed the process of coordinating and approving the design of the Bulgarian euro coins. The final step in this process involved the approval of the EU Council, which was received earlier this month. All EU member states have approved the design of the Bulgarian euro coins, the central bank announced. Thus, the BNB completes another step that the institution takes in preparing for the country’s full membership in the Eurozone.
The production of 8 nominal Bulgarian euro coins up to 1 million pieces has started, and the quantities required for circulation will be cut after the EU’s decision on our acceptance into the Eurozone. On their front side are the common symbols of the European currency, and on the national side they will reproduce the design of the Bulgarian cents.
At the suggestion of the Governing Council of the BNB, the design of the current exchange coins was reproduced on the national side of the Bulgarian euro coins. Thus, the Horseman from Madara will be on coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Euro cents, St. Ivan Rilski (St. John of Rila) will adorn a 1-euro coin, and the face of Paisii Hilendarski – on a 2-euro coin. The reasons for this were that the symbols on the current Bulgarian exchange coins were established and well accepted by the citizens. This will ensure continuity from the current to the new euro coins in Bulgaria and their easy recognition, while at the same time the Bulgarian identity will be confirmed and continued through the familiar symbols of the Bulgarian coins.
The deputy governor of the BNB, Andrey Gyurov, who is the head of the “Emissions” department, explained to the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) that this is how the program for the minting of Bulgarian euro coins is implemented.
“This is another step in the process of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone. With the approval received from the Council of the EU, the BNB will be able to mint 1 million pieces of all denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 euro cents and 1 and €2, note ed.). We are already running the program for this trial strike, which includes various stages. One such is the provision of the blanks for the euro coins, which has already been passed and they have been ordered. Now these blanks are to arrive in the Mint of the BNB and start minting the coins,” Gyurov pointed out.
“After they have been minted in the trial circulations, they must be certified by the European Central Bank. Receiving such a certificate for “Moneten Dvor” EAD will mean that we can start minting the rest of the euro coins as well. In total, about 800 million coins will must be issued, and this will start after our country is officially approved for joining the Eurozone,” Gyurov emphasized.
On Wednesday, MEPs in the Environment Committee adopted their position on the proposed revision of the Waste Framework Directive, by 72 votes in favour, none against and three abstentions.
More ambitious food waste reduction targets
MEPs want to increase the binding waste reduction targets proposed by the Commission to at least 20% in food processing and manufacturing (instead of 10%) and to 40% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services and households (instead of 30%), in comparison to the annual average generated between 2020 and 2022. EU countries would need to ensure that these targets are achieved at national level by 31 December 2030.
MEPs also want the Commission to evaluate the possibility and make appropriate legislative proposals to introduce higher targets for 2035 (at least 30% and 50% respectively).
Extended producer responsibility for textile products, clothing and footwear
The new rules, as adopted by MEPs, would set up extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes, through which economic operators that make textiles available on the EU market would cover the costs for their separate collection, sorting and recycling. Member states would have to establish these schemes 18 months after the entry into force of the directive (compared to 30 months proposed by the Commission). In parallel, EU countries would need to ensure, by 1 January 2025, the separate collection of textiles for re-use, preparing for re-use and recycling.
These rules would cover textile products such as clothing and accessories, blankets, bed linen, curtains, hats, footwear, mattresses and carpets, including products that contain textile-related materials such as leather, composition leather, rubber or plastic.
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Rapporteur Anna Zalewska (ECR, PL) said: “We provide focused solutions to reduce food waste, such as promoting “ugly” fruits and veggies, keeping an eye on unfair market practices, clarifying date labelling and donating unsold-but-consumable food. For textiles, we patch up loopholes by also including non-household products, carpets and mattresses, as well as sales via online platforms. We also request a textile waste reduction target, with an oversight of exported used textiles. Better infrastructure to increase separate collection should be complemented by sorting mixed municipal waste more efficiently, so that items which can be recycled are extracted before being sent to the incinerator or landfill.”
Next steps
The full house is scheduled to vote on its position during the March 2024 plenary session. The file will be followed up by the new Parliament after the European elections on 6-9 June.
New rules for companies to comply with EU ban on greenwashing of products. The Internal Market and Environment committees adopted on Wednesday their position on the rules on how firms can validate their environmental marketing claims.
The so-called green claims directive complements the already-approved EU ban on greenwashing. It defines what kind of information companies have to provide to justify their environmental marketing claims in the future. It also creates a framework and deadlines for checking evidence and approving claims, and specifies what happens to companies who break the law.
Verification system and penalties
MEPs agreed with the Commission that companies should submit any future environmental marketing claims for approval before using them. The claims would be assessed by accredited verifiers within 30 days, according to adopted text. Companies who break the rules may be excluded from procurements, lose their revenues and face a fine of at least at 4% of their annual turnover.
The Commission should draw up a list of less complex claims and products that could benefit from faster or simpler verification, MEPs say. It should also decide whether green claims about products containing hazardous substances should remain possible. MEPs also agreed that micro enterprises should be excluded from the new obligations and SMEs should get one extra year before applying the rules.
Carbon offsetting and comparative claims
MEPs confirmed the recent EU ban on green claims based solely on the so-called carbon offsetting schemes. They now specify that companies could still mention offsetting schemes if they have already reduced their emissions as much as possible and use these schemes for residual emissions only. The carbon credits of the schemes must be certified, as established under the Carbon Removals Certification Framework.
Special rules would also apply to comparative claims (i.e. ads comparing two different goods), including if the two products are made by the same producer. Among other provisions, companies should demonstrate they have used the same methods to compare relevant aspects of the products. Also, claims that products have been improved cannot be based on data that are more than five years old.
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Parliament’s rapporteur Andrus Ansip (Renew, EE) for the Internal Market Committee said: “Studies show that 50% of companies’ environmental claims are misleading. Consumers and entrepreneurs deserve transparency, legal clarity and equal conditions of competition. Traders are willing to pay for it, but not more than they gain from it. I am pleased that the solution proposed by the committees is balanced, brings more clarity to consumers and at the same time is, in many cases, less burdensome for businesses than the solution originally proposed by the Commission.”
Parliament’s rapporteur Cyrus Engerer (S&D, MT) for the Environment Committee said: “It is time to put an end to greenwashing. Our agreement on this text ends the proliferation of deceitful green claims which have tricked consumers for far too long. It also ensures that businesses have the right tools to embrace genuine sustainability practices. European consumers want to make environmental and sustainable choices and all those offering products or services must guarantee that their green claims are scientifically verified.”
Next steps
The draft report was adopted with 85 votes to 2 and 14 abstentions. It will now be put to a vote at an upcoming plenary session and will constitute Parliament’s position at first reading (most likely in March). The file will be followed up by the new Parliament after the European elections on 6-9 June.
The manuscripts are more than 2,000 years old and were severely damaged after the eruption of the volcano in AD 79.
Three scientists managed to read a small part of charred manuscripts after the eruption of Vesuvius with the help of artificial intelligence, reported AFP.
The manuscripts are more than 2,000 years old and were severely damaged after the volcano erupted in 79 AD. The Herculaneum papyri contain about 800 scrolls charred during the disaster that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, organizers of the Challenge of Vesuvius competition say – Brent Seals from the University of Kentucky, USA, and Nat Friedman, founder of the Github platform.
The manuscripts are kept in the French Institute in Paris and in the National Library in Naples. Organizers of the reading competition have scanned four scrolls and offered a prize of one million US dollars to whoever can decipher at least 85 percent of four paragraphs of 140 characters.
The trio that won the Vesuvius Challenge and a $700,000 prize was Youssef Nader, a PhD student in Berlin, Luc Farriter, a student and intern at SpaceX, and Julian Schilliger, a Swiss robotics student.
They used artificial intelligence to separate the ink in the charred manuscript and identified Greek letters. Thanks to this technique, Luke Farriter has read the first word of a paragraph – pansy.
According to the organizers, Nader, Fariter and Schilliger deciphered about five percent of one scroll. According to Nat Friedman, this is probably a manuscript of the Epicurean Philodemus.
The papyri were discovered in the 19th century in a country house.
According to some historians, they belonged to Lycius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus – father of Calpurnia, one of Julius Caesar’s wives. Some of these texts likely contain the history of key periods of Antiquity, Robert Fowler, an ancient history specialist and president of the Herculaneum Society, told Bloomberg Businessweek.
LVMH, which is headed by Bernard Arnault, is doing everything possible to take over Paris in 2024, when the Summer Olympics will be held, the Wall Street Journal reported, as quoted by Investor.
One of its jewelry brands, Chaumet, creates gold, silver and bronze medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. One of its fashion brands, Berluti, creates the uniforms that French athletes will wear during a lavish opening ceremony. Moët champagne and Hennessy cognac will be offered in each VIP box.
That key role during the months-long euphoria surrounding the Olympic and Paralympic Games cost LVMH 150 million euros, a source familiar with the matter said. This makes the group the largest local sponsor of Paris 2024.
“The Games are in Paris and LVMH represents the image of France,” said Antoine Arnaud, Bernard Arnault’s eldest son and chairman of Berluti. “We can’t help but be a part of it.”
The conglomerate’s focus on the Olympics reflects a larger strategic leap into sports by the world’s biggest luxury goods companies. They realize that a growing share of their business depends on consumers they can reach through wildly popular events that turn their backs on old-fashioned exclusivity. About 60% of luxury goods sales in the world today come from people who spend less than 2,000 euros a year on such products, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
Not so long ago, mainstream sporting events were considered something below the level of top-end luxury brands, who preferred to target golf, tennis, polo, sailing and Formula 1 clubs. But in the age of social media, where athletes seamlessly reach the global market and influence consumers alongside pop stars and Hollywood actors, their reach and universal appeal have become too significant to pass up.
In 2022, the man with the most followers in the history of social media – Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo – appeared in a Louis Vuitton campaign. On the chessboard opposite him sat his greatest rival, the Argentinian Lionel Messi. Although the two were never together in the Annie Leibovitz photoshoot, that didn’t stop the ad from becoming one of the most liked photos on Instagram.
Before the Olympics, Vuitton sponsored a fencer and a swimmer, while LVMH’s Dior supported a gymnast and a wheelchair tennis player.
Many of LVMH’s competitors have made similar moves. Last summer, Prada sponsored the Chinese national team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The post announcing the partnership was viewed 300 million times on the Chinese social network Weibo. Gucci has signed a number of athletes, including English footballer Jack Grealish and Italian tennis player Yannick Sinner. However, no one has attempted to take over an entire event the size of the Olympics.
For Paris 2024, the deal is a delicate compromise. Organizers promised a more sensible approach to the event, aimed at a mass audience, without the exorbitant costs of previous games. Although LVMH’s money is helping Paris 2024 achieve its goal of being almost entirely privately funded (currently 97%, organizers say), the company’s brands have a high-end image that is potentially at odds with the idea of a less wasteful Olympics.
Things are complicated by the image of Bernard Arnault in France: one of the world’s richest men is a lightning rod for discontent over growing inequality. Still, LVMH points out that its portfolio includes much more affordable brands, such as cosmetics giant Sephora and several mid-range champagne brands. And the light from the Olympic spotlights represents an irresistible opportunity for the giant to cement its status as the standard-bearer of French taste, corporate power and skill.
“Our craftsmen are perfectionists, just like the top athletes and coaches,” commented Bernard Arnault. “And our houses carry the image of France all over the world.”
Sponsors are betting that the Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to August 11, will become the most attractive in more than a decade. Preparations are relatively drama-free, without delays and budget overruns that hampered previous editions. Concerns about public transport congestion and high ticket and hotel room prices have hardly deterred sponsors. The prospect of a Parisian backdrop and an opening ceremony with athletes on ships sailing down the Seine is a much easier sell than some of the challenging venues the event has offered since London 2012. Then there was Sochi 2014 under the watchful eye of Vladimir Putin, followed by the chaos of Rio 2016, the remoteness of Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018 and the pandemic games in Tokyo 2021 and Beijing 2022.
“You have to convince your partners, you have to show them, that it will be worth it,” says Tony Estanguet (born 6 May 1978 ), a former Olympic canoeist who is in charge of the Paris 2024 organizing committee.
The Olympics have always relied primarily on domestic sponsors, but LVMH’s involvement will be the most attention-grabbing of the 60 major partners of Paris 2024. People familiar with the matter say LVMH is particularly demanding in some respects. During the negotiations, the company went so far as to insist on creative input for the opening ceremony, which will pass by Louis Vuitton’s headquarters, LVMH’s Samaritaine department store and its Cheval Blanc hotel. To reach the deal, there were personal meetings between Arnaud and Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach in December 2022.
Then, when it came time to announce the partnership last summer – exactly one year before the Games – LVMH broke the news not at a traditional press conference, but in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, on the Champ de Mars. Bach was also present at the event.
“It epitomizes what France does best,” Antoine Arnault said at the time. “Legacy, Ambition, Creativity, Excellence.”
Asked about the topic, Rome’s chief curator of cultural heritage, Claudio Parisi Presicce, said Usmanov’s funding was agreed before Western sanctions, and Rome’s ancient heritage, he says, is “universal”.
The imposing colonnade of Trajan’s Basilica in Rome, which occupies a prominent position in the Roman emperor’s forum a stone’s throw from the Colosseum, has just been partially restored thanks to a Russian oligarch under sanctions from the European Union and the United States, AFP reported.
While most of the projects undertaken in Rome to bring the ancient ruins to light force tourists to stoop, the reconstruction of the two-story Corinthian colonnade invites them to look up at the sky, at a height of more than 23 meters.
“If visitors don’t perceive the height of the monuments, they don’t understand the significance of the architecture,” Claudio Parisi Presicce, Rome’s chief curator of cultural heritage, told AFP during a visit to the site.
The Basilica of Ulpia, a building with no religious vocation at the time, is the centerpiece of the Forum of Trajan, the largest and last of the imperial forums, named after Marcus Ulpius Trajan, emperor from 98 to 117 AD.
Discovered in the second century, it largely collapsed in the Middle Ages, but was brought to light by excavations in the early 19th century and in the 1930s.
The current project, which began in 2021, made it possible to identify three green marble columns left for almost a century “in a corner”, without connection to their foundations, explains Presicce.
The project was funded by a €1.5 million donation made in 2015 by Uzbek-born oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
He was sanctioned by the European Union and the US after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, accused by the US Treasury Department of being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last year, Forbes magazine estimated the fortune of the oligarch at $14.4 billion.
Named “most generous donor” in the 2021 Sunday Times list of wealthy philanthropists, having given away £4.2 billion over 20 years. dollars for charity, Usmanov is a noted Italophile from whose generosity Rome has already benefited.
Asked about the topic, Claudio Parisi Presicce replied that Usmanov’s financing was agreed before the Western sanctions, and the ancient heritage of Rome, according to him, is “universal”.
Trajan’s large-scale military campaigns, including the virtual extermination of the Dacians in present-day Romania, allowed Rome to expand its borders even further.
His two bloody wars against the Dacians are represented by a spiral bas-relief on Trajan’s Column, located north of the basilica and erected in celebration of the emperor’s victories and booty.
“Trajan built a monument using the most precious materials that could be found at the time,” Parisi Presicce, referring to the colored marble quarried in Egypt, Asia and Africa.
The basilica, which housed the civil and criminal courts and other administrative structures, consists of five central aisles separated by rows of columns.
Designed by the famous architect Apollodorus of Damascus, it has a roof of bronze tiles, while the facade is decorated with statues of Dacian prisoners and frescoes depicting the weapons of the victorious legions.
Previous excavations had brought to light the forum and the remains of its basilica, but although the massive granite columns running the length of the basilica had been restored and reassembled, the colonnade still lacked its second floor.
This has already been done: segments of the original marble of the frieze of the entablature, preserved in warehouses or museums, have been recreated in resin, as well as lost parts with less detail.
This allows the visitor to see the difference between the originals and the replicas – a common practice in heritage-conscious restoration and illustrating the reversible nature of intervention.
The final stages of the project include the re-creation of the basilica’s southern staircase, using slabs of ancient yellow marble found at the site.
Around 150 archaeological projects are planned in Rome until 2027, the majority of which are financed by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery funds.
Photo: Marcus Ulpius Traianus, Marble bust, Glyptothek, Munich
