Man Jailed After Duping Tourists with Fake Greek Amphitheater in Italy
Italian authorities secured the conviction and jailing of Franco Malosso following a ten-year legal battle over a nearly 54,000-square-foot fake Greek amphitheater built without authorization in Arcugnano, Italy. Malosso charged tourists up to 40 euros to visit the bogus site, which prosecutors proved was constructed with modern machinery, newly quarried stone, and polystyrene.
The Anatomy of a 10-Year Cultural Deception in the Veneto Region
For a decade, visitors trekking up a scenic hillside in Italy’s northern Veneto region stepped into a historical illusion. According to court documents and reporting detailed by CNN, Franco Malosso constructed the nearly 54,000-square-foot site using a local construction firm. He charged tourists up to 40 euros ($46) to tour what he claimed was an ancient Greek amphitheater built over 2,000 years ago.
The operation collapsed after local law enforcement discovered the unauthorized build on a hillside covered in protected woodland outside Arcugnano, just over three miles south of Vicenza. Investigators immediately referred the site to the cultural superintendency in October 2016. A joint site inspection by a representative of the local heritage board and police from the Carabinieri’s Nucleo Tutela Patrimonio Artistico (TPC) — commonly known as the art squad — took just a single day to expose the forgery, according to Lt. Col. Giuseppe Marseglia, commander of the TPC in Monza.
Red Flags Ignored by Online Reviewers
Despite glaring historical and architectural impossibilities, the site enjoyed rave reviews online. Of the eight TripAdvisor reviews logged for the amphitheater, every single one offered fulsome, five-star praise. Visitors called it “an enchanting place” and “a world beyond space and time,” while another declared it “unique on the planet.”
That final review proved ironically accurate. The structure was entirely unique because it was entirely fake. Historical and geographical errors abounded. The site was fan-shaped rather than an oval amphitheater. It sat roughly 50 miles from the coast, defying its moniker of Anfiteatro Marittimo Berico. Furthermore, ancient Greeks only colonized farther south; their historical footprint remained restricted to the southern regions of the country. Malosso also went by the name of Von Rosenfranz and led guided tours around the complex, which he outfitted with artificially aged stone, cement columns, plaster statues, and a hand-dug pool of water.
“Just the idea of it is insane,” Darius Arya, archaeologist and director of Ancient Rome Live, told CNN, condemning Malosso’s venture as diabolical and terrible. Arya also highlighted the absurdity of the water feature: “Why was there a pool of water there, there were no maritime performances. It’s like a folly — it doesn’t feel right.”
Legal Penalties and Environmental Destruction Charges
This month, the long judicial process concluded with Malosso sentenced to prison. The court found him guilty of forging works of art, carrying out building works without authorization, and destroying a protected landscape. Prosecutors presented evidence showing that 21st-century builders used machines, newly quarried stone from Puglia, cement, and a supporting wall topped with polystyrene to fabricate the ruins.
Italy holds a dense concentration of legitimate antiquities, edging out China for the most UNESCO World Heritage sites. Authentic historical venues, from the Greek and Roman theaters of Syracuse and Pompeii to the amphitheater of Verona located 40 miles west of Arcugnano, host summer opera and theatrical productions each year. Malosso’s improvised enterprise stood in stark contrast to these genuine civic treasures, trading on fabricated antiquity to bypass strict regional conservation statutes.