Italy opens international call for new director of Pompeii.

Italy's culture ministry has launched an international search for a new director to run Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried in volcanic ash in 79 AD, with the chance that the job could go to a non-Italian for the first time.

Culture minister Dario Franceschini says he hopes that Italy's call to direct the renowned site, "loved by every archaeologist," will be "watched very carefully around the world," during a presentation on 17 September.

Significantly, for the first time the important role has been opened to international as well as Italian applicants, with Franceschini confident that the winning candidate will be the "best of the best."

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Franceschini described the Pompeii of recent years as "a success story, a symbol of redemption," and spoke of how the Italian museum system has evolved due an international selection process which results in "the best people being chosen on the basis of their curriculum, merit and skills."The minister said that there was a "great deal of work" to be done around the sprawling archaeological site, in relation to its services and infrastructure, describing this as the "second part of the challenge."

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“I leave Pompeii in a very different situation from 2014" - stated the outgoing director Massimo Osanna, who takes up his new role as director general of Italian museums, adding: "The next director will be called upon to follow important projects, including making safe the insula meridionalis and overseeing works on the 'buffer zone', beginning with the restoration of the Torre Annunziata Spolettificio."

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Over the last decade Pompeii has seen a remarkable reversal of fortune. Ten years ago the archaeological site was suffering a progressive and seemingly irreversible decline, with many of its most famous buildings declared unsafe and whole areas of the city placed off limits to visitors.

However thanks to the success of the Great Pompeii Project, and good management, the situation has been totally reversed. The requalification and restoration project was funded with grant of €105 million, 75 per cent of which was put up by the EU and the rest by the Italian government, leading to "extraordinary results" according to Franceschini.

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Candidates for the new top job at Pompeii can apply until 3 November, with the appointment to be made on 31 March 2021.

The new director will have a fixed-term assignment of four years, renewable for a further four years and will receive a salary of €148,000 plus the potential of a performance bonus of up to €40,000.

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For full details see culture ministry website. Photo credit: Emanuele Longo / Shutterstock.com.