Visitors to the Pantheon in Rome will be charged an entry fee from 1 July, Italy's culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano confirmed on Sunday. The minister, speaking to veteran television journalist Bruno Vespa at the Forum in Masseria, stressed that the Pantheon is Italy's most visited site.

"With the proceeds from the tickets we will be able to provide food for the poor and undertake renovation and regeneration works on the monument," said Sangiuliano, who added that the "rear part of the site would be set up as a museum."