A HUGE CHUNK OF A 2,000 YEAR OLD GALLERY IN THE COMPLEX THAT INCLUDES THE INFAMOUS EMPEROR NERO'S FABLED GOLDEN PALACE COLLAPSED TUESDAY, ROME'S ART OFFICIALS SAID. OFFICIALS SAID THEY BELIEVED NOBODY WAS INSIDE WHEN THE COLLAPSE TOOK PLACE AT AROUND 10a, BRINGING DOWN PART OF THE GARDEN ABOVE, BUT FIREFIGHTERS CORDONED OFF THE AREA AS THEY CHECKED NO ONE WAS TRAPPED. NERO'S PALACE HAD BEEN CLOSED AS WORKERS WERE DOING REPAIRS. BUILT BY ROMAN EMPEROR NERO IN THE FIRST CENTURY AD, THE SUMPTUOUS PALACE IS KNOWN TO MANY BY ITS LATIN NAME DOMUS AUREA. WITH ITS FRESCOED HALLS AND GOLD-ENCRUSTED CEILINGS, IT WAS MEANT AS A FABLED RESIDENCE FOR ONE OF ROME'S MOST DEPRAVED EMPERORS. UMBERTO BROCCOLI OF ROME'S ARTISTIC SUPERINTENDENCY SAID THE VAULTED CEILING COLLAPSED BECAUSE OF SEVERE WATER DAMAGE. 'THINK 2,000 YEARS OF HISTORY, THINK OF ALL THE RAIN OF THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS', BROCCOLI TOLD REPORTERS AT THE SCENE. THE SITE WAS REOPENED IN 1999 FOLLOWING 18 YEARS OF CLOSURE BECAUSE OF STRUCTURAL CONCERNS, AND IT SOON BECAME ONE OF THE CAPITAL'S MOST POPULAR TOURIST SITES. BUT THE MONUMENT REMAINS PLAGUED BY STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS AND WATER INFILTRATION, WHICH HAVE FORCED THE SITE TO CLOSE AT VARIOUS TIMES DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS. THE PALACE ORIGINALLY SPRAWLED ACROSS NEARLY 200 ACRES, OCCUPYING PARTS OF FOUR OF ROME'S SEVEN ANCIENT HILLS. THE COMPLEX LAY UNDERNEATH TONS OF DIRT IN THE BOWELS OF A HILL FOR CENTURIES, BEFORE COMING TO LIGHT 500 YEARS AGO WHEN RENAISSANCE SCHOLARS BEGAN RESEARCHING THE IMPERIAL PERIOD.
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