{"id":371304,"date":"2026-07-24T17:13:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=371304"},"modified":"2026-07-24T17:13:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:43:52","slug":"conman-built-fake-roman-amphitheatre-and-charged-tourists-35-to-go-to-news-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/conman-built-fake-roman-amphitheatre-and-charged-tourists-35-to-go-to-news-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Conman built fake Roman amphitheatre and charged tourists \u00a335 to go to | News World"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz boasted that the Berico Maritime Amphitheatre near the north-eastern city of Vicenza was \u2018the oldest and largest, amongst probably the most spectacular on the earth\u2019 (Picture: Google Maps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Italian conman who built a fake Roman amphitheatre and charged tourists \u00a335 to return and see it has been jailed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz boasted that the Berico Maritime Amphitheatre near the north-eastern city of Vicenza was \u2018the oldest and largest, amongst probably the most spectacular on the earth\u2019.<\/p>\n

But the traditional artefact was not from 393AD as billed \u2013 it was actually inbuilt the early 2000s using stuccoed blocks, plaster statues and columns crafted from fibreglass and papier-mache.<\/p>\n

The self-described \u2018philanthropist, entrepreneur and orchestra conductor\u2019, 69, even fooled the local government, who included the positioning in a tourism promotion guide and app.<\/p>\n

Molosso was rumbled in 2016 when a police investigation was launched and archaeologists were drafted in to look at the positioning, Corriere della Sera reported.<\/p>\n

Satellite images revealed the recent change within the landscape and it was quickly noticed there was no ancient structure there.<\/p>\n

He told tourists he discovered the realm together with historical artefacts dating\u00a0back to the Neolithic, Greek and Roman eras.<\/p>\n

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Franco Malosso pictured during a protest outside The Hague in 2001 (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And in accordance with his version of history, a complete forged of figures had visited the amphitheatre, including Julius Casar himself, who was said to have stopped by on his return from Egypt with Cleopatra.<\/p>\n

Juliet Capulet was also claimed to have lived at an ancient church there, despite William Shakespeare\u2019s play famously being set in Verona.<\/p>\n

When the scam was uncovered, Vicenza\u2019s deputy mayor Jacopo Bulgarini D\u2019Elci decried it as \u2018probably the most incredible hoaxes since Orson Welles\u2019s War of the Worlds\u2019.<\/p>\n

Malosso was jailed this week for illegal construction, forgery of artworks, and the production of artefacts without authorisation.<\/p>\n

He was jailed for 2 years and 4 months and fined \u20ac3,000 tremendous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Municipality of Arcugnano has also sought \u20ac560,000 in damages.<\/p>\n

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Franco Malosso von Rosenfranz boasted that the Berico Maritime Amphitheatre near the north-eastern city of Vicenza was \u2018the oldest and largest, amongst probably the most spectacular on the earth\u2019 (Picture: Google Maps) An Italian conman who built a fake Roman amphitheatre and charged tourists \u00a335 to return and see it has been jailed. Franco Malosso […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":371305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[54204,2865,5719,15537,2564,395,9419,6568,4330,813],"class_list":["post-371304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-amphitheatre","tag-built","tag-charged","tag-conman","tag-fake","tag-news","tag-roman","tag-tourists","tag-visit","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t