Restaurant, coffee shops and vending machines for Rome's archaeological monuments.

Restaurants on the Palatine hill and at Palazzo Massimo, new cafès and vending machines at the Roman Forum and Baths of Diocletian, and at Capo di Bove and Villa dei Quintili along the Via Appia Antica.

The announcement by Francesco Prosperetti, superintendent for Rome’s archaeological heritage, represents a radical change from the policies of his predecessors.

Prosperetti, who took over from Maria Rosaria Barbera in February, blamed previous superintendents for “overlooking the reception of visitors” which he sees as “fundamental” to boosting income at a time of funding cuts.

The plans outlined by Prosperetti, a former culture ministry chief in Calabria, include the relocation of the Boni library from the second floor of the Palatine Antiquarium to Palazzo Altemps near Piazza Navona, and transforming the library space into a restaurant.

Prosperetti said that the restaurant, whose development has already been allocated €500,000, would also take the place of a “very nice” apartment at the Antiquarium where “one of my predecessors lived for years but which is now available.”

The superintendent's plan to introduce dining facilities follows the city's recent ban on mobile snack bars from operating in areas of archaeological and historic importance.