Italy’s Colosseum was closed for a day on Wednesday after a 22-year-old technician was killed in an overnight workplace accident at the ancient monument.

Andrea Moretti died after falling several metres while installing a new lighting system inside the nearly 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre, according to Italian authorities.

Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli ordered the one-day closure as a mark of respect for Moretti. He also suspended all construction and maintenance work at the Colosseum until further notice.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed shock and sadness over the death, describing Moretti as a skilled worker who died in a tragic accident.

The Colosseum is one of Italy’s most visited tourist attractions and was once the largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. The ancient arena was used for gladiatorial contests, executions and animal hunts.

The decision initially announced by authorities involved only a partial closure of the monument. However, Italy’s largest trade union, the CGIL, protested and called for the site to be fully closed.

Natale di Cola, the CGIL’s Rome chief, said the union believed the death of a worker should take precedence over tourism and called on the culture minister to provide an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the accident.

The incident has also renewed attention on worker safety at construction and maintenance sites around the historic monument. It occurred less than a year after another worker died near the Colosseum.

In November 2025, a Romanian worker was trapped for several hours under rubble following the partial collapse of a medieval tower near the ancient arena.

Authorities were continuing to examine the circumstances of Moretti’s death while construction and maintenance activities at the Colosseum remained suspended.

SOURCE: Reuters, September 23, 2026.