An Italian man is spending 28 months in prison for constructing an amphitheater before passing it off as ancient ruins and charging tourists to visit it.
Franco Malosso, 69, built the structure in the northeastern Italian town of Arcugnano, 40 miles west of Venice, with the investigation into it beginning in 2016, according to regional newspaper Corriere del Veneto.
Malosso was convicted of illegal construction, forgery of artworks, and the production of artifacts without authorization in 2021 before finally being imprisoned this year following failed legal appeals, according to the outlet.
Law enforcement and Malosso’s defense said the amphitheater was obviously fake.
Lt. Col. Giuseppe Marseglia with the Italian national police’s art squad told CNN that “of all criminals, forgers are the ones with the most talent, because they are able to create works of art. Then there are scammers. … I have no respect [for Malosso]. Calling him a forger is an offense to forgers.”
Malosso charged as much as $46 to access the fake amphitheater and its 54,000-square-foot site. Discrepancies at the site included its shape — a fan instead of the proper oval — as well as its maritime name and purported Greek origin. The ancient Greeks did not settle in northern Italy, according to CNN.
When the amphitheater opened to the public, Malosso claimed that he had unearthed it and tied it to historical figures, including Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. The probe found instead that the hill was excavated, that modern stone blocks were used and artificially aged and that even the lake at the site was artificial, according to Vicenza Today.
Other fake material included fiberglass, papier-mache columns and plaster statues dating back to the 2000s instead of over 2,000 years ago, according to Euronews.
Marco Ellero, an attorney for Malosso, told local news site ViPiu, “I have asked the judges … was it really credible for an average audience to believe that it was a pre-Roman amphitheater or theater? This, also in light of the superintendent’s report, which states that the Arcugnano amphitheater is a colossal piece of tackiness, so obvious that anyone could notice. It’s a bit of an impossible crime, like killing someone with a water pistol.”
Mr. Ellero also told ViPiu that the judges in the case did not properly weigh Malosso’s mental state when making their verdict.
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