Entry to state-owned museums, galleries, monuments and archaeological areas across Italy will be free 27-28 September during the annual European Heritage Days (Giornate Europee del Patrimonio), a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe to give the public a chance to experience sites not usually open to them. The theme in Italy this year is "Visiting the past: places, things, signs", and more than 500 events are scheduled to take place nation-wide, including historic re-enactments, guided visits, exhibitions, concerts and conferences in places of particular historic significance. In Rome, last year's activities included tours organised by the Holy See of the sacred archaeological necropolis under St Peter's Basilica and of the early Christian catacomb on Via Latina.