New national park will also include Domus Aurea, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

A new archaeological park, which will include the Colosseum, the Domus Aurea, Palatine Hill and Forum sites, has been announced by the Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini.

The move, which will see the appointment of a new director via an international selection process, is designed to streamline the management of the city's archaeological sites, increase visitor numbers and offer better services.

The management team of the new archaeological park will replace the special superintendency which currently manages the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine and Domus Aurea sites. The special superintendency will now assume responsibility for all archaeological sites in Rome, replacing the ordinary superintendency which will be abolished.

The special superintendency will retain its autonomy and will receive 30 per cent of the annual revenue from ticket sales to the Colosseum archaeological park – for the maintenance of other archaeological sites – on top of its ordinary funding from the culture ministry.

The reform of the sites' management structures is expected to begin in the coming days and will move forward rapidly, according to Franceschini. The new manager of the Colosseum archaeological park will reportedly be installed by the end of 2017 and in the meantime the sites will be managed by an interim administration.