Ancient City of Pompeii Officially Opened To The Public After Completion of 150M Euros Restoration Project

by Therese Agcopra / Dec 26, 2015 11:37 PM EST

Pompeii (Photo by Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images)

The newly-restored ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii were officially opened to the public on Thursday, with intricate mosaic tiles and graffiti made available for public viewing for eager tourists.

CNN reported Saturday that the re-opening follows the completion of a 150 million Euros-worth restoration project at the UNESCO World Heritage site. The project took off in 2012, and was spearheaded by Italian authorities in partnership with the European Union's European Commission.

Among the highly-anticipated restorations in Pompeii is the Fullonica di Stephanus, an intricately-designed laundry that features large baths for rinsing tunics and basins used for dyeing fabrics, The Guardian wrote. The laundry is also equipped with a press for ironing and storage for urine, which residents of the ancient city collected from public toilets and used to remove tough stains on fabrics.

The partnership aimed to renovate "high risk" structures as well as construct a drainage system and restore artifacts.

In 2008, the Italian government declared a state of emergency after portions of the site began to crumble. Pompeii's House of the Gladiators also collapsed in 2012. Lack of funding and neglect was pinpointed as the reason for the ancient's city's deterioration.

With the completion of the restoration project, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi expressed optimism at the unveiling of the restored ruins, The Guardian noted Thursday.

"We made news with the collapses, now we are making news with restoration," Menzi said.

Pompeii is one of the world's most famous historical sites, and is found in near Naples, Italy. The ancient Roman city was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., burying Pompeii and its inhabitants in hot rock and volcanic ash. Remains of some victims and artifacts have been preserved and fossilized through the years, leaving for the current generation a detailed picture of the life and culture of the Early Roman Empire.