🇮🇹 Italy’s fake ancient wonder fooled tourists for 20 years…
A man named Franco Malosso built a fake Roman-style amphitheatre near Vicenza and convinced visitors they were seeing a 1,600-year-old historical site.
🏛️ He claimed the “Berico Maritime Amphitheatre”:
• Was built before AD 393
• Was visited by Julius Caesar and Cleopatra
• Was connected to Shakespeare’s Juliet Capulet
Tourists paid €40 per visit to explore the “ancient ruins.”
But the truth was shocking…
Satellite images showed the site was created in the early 2000s after a hill was flattened. The “ancient” columns and statues were made from modern materials like fiberglass, plaster and papier-mâché.
After years of investigation, Malosso was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison for the massive historical hoax.
A fake empire… built on a fake history. 😳