The 14th edition of the spring open day, Giornata della Primavera, organised by the Fondo per lAmbiente Italiano (FAI), will take place on 25 and 26 March. A total of 410 monuments many of which are not usually open to the public in 190 cities can visited. As usual entrance to all of these monuments will be free but this year the FAI is asking for donations of 1 to help with the maintenance of so many wonderful places given that the government is having to cut spending.

Museums and churches, industrial buildings and even an oak tree, five centuries old, can be visited. Open for the first time in Rome will be the senates Palazzo Giustiniani near the Pantheon, which contains the room where the Italian constitution was signed on 27 Dec 1947 as well as the Palazzo delle Finanze, the Palazzo di Giustizia, known to the Romans as the Palazzaccio, the churches of S. Silvestro al Quirinale, and S. Nicola da Tolentino, all will be open from 09.3018.00. The choir of S. Cecilia in Urbe in Piazza S. Cecilia with its famous frescoes by Cavallini will be open from 11.3017.30. Following their success as guides last year more than 7,000 students and schoolchildren will act as guides for the FAI spring day this year. In Rome they will be at work at the Museo Roma citt del Fuoco Via Galvani 2, and at the MuseoTeatrale del Burcardo in Via dei Sudario 44, open from 9.3018.00

FAI is an association that works in a similar way to the National Trust in Britain, purchasing and restoring privately-owned properties that are at risk of falling into disrepair. For opening times and a full list of monuments tel. 0141720850 or see www.fondoambiente.it.