The ancient city of Paestum was founded by the Greeks in southern Italy at the end of the seventh century BC. Today its is a World Heritage site but it is in crisis.<br /><br />An urgent fund raising project is underway using modern social networks to find initially over 50,000 euros.<br /><br />And it is needed – the economic recession has meant Italy has other priorities, but many of the buildings not yet excavated are being damaged by farming machinery.<br /><br />Valentina Del Pizzo, spokesperson for a leading environmental agency explained:<br /><br />“The most important aspect is the ‘community involvement’. A community which is certainly international, because the Paestum site is on the UNESCO List so we can request help world wide.”<br /><br />The idea is to use the internet to get individuals to club together to buy up sections of the site – crowd funding its called – 47 euros a share, for your own piece of history.
