On the 130th anniversary of its establishment, jewelry and luxury goods company Bulgari is celebrating by “adopting” the Spanish Steps.
Bulgari has in fact donated 1.5 million euros to the city of Rome, the company’s hometown, to finance the restoration of one of Rome’s landmark monuments.
The announcement was made by Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin and by Rome mayor Ignazio Marino, who mentioned previous donations by Italian entrepreneurs for city monuments restorations, such as Tod's CEO Diego Della Valle for the Coliseum restoration and Fendi for the Trevi Fountain, saying that Bulgari “is part of an exclusive club of extraordinary donors who have decided to intervene in order to preserve our cultural heritage.”
“I think it's important that Bulgari, a name so strongly linked to our city, has decided to donate a substantial sum for the restoration of one of the most beautiful settings on the planet,” Marino added.
The CEO of Bulgari, Babin, recalling the history of the fashion house, said that the staircase "is the heart of our history between Via Sistina, where Sotirio Bulgari opened his first shop in 1884, and the current shop in Via Condotti. The incredible artistic beauty of this unique city and its rich heritage of archeology, art and culture have always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for our collections.”
On its 130th anniversary, Babin said, Bulgari has thus decided to “pay a special tribute to our city through the reopening of the historic shop in Via Condotti and an extraordinary work of patronage that will bring back to its original beauty one of the most iconic architectural gems of the Italian capital.”
The restoration work should be completed in 2 years.
