He Turned a Hill into a "Roman Amphitheater" — and Charged Tourists €40 Each

For nearly ten years, Franco Malosso convinced visitors that a structure in his hometown of Vicenza was a genuine archaeological treasure. He called it the "Berico Amphitheater" and claimed it held Neolithic and Roman artifacts. Tourists paid €40 each for the privilege of touring what they believed was an ancient monument.

It was all a fabrication. An investigation launched in 2016 uncovered the truth: the amphitheater was a modern, illegally built structure erected on an ordinary hill. Malosso had artificially aged the stones to give it an ancient appearance. There were no real archaeological finds — just a clever forgery designed to dupe tourists.

In 2021, a court sentenced Malosso to two years and four months in prison for building code violations, art forgery, and damaging a protected landscape. He was also ordered to pay compensation for the environmental harm. The conviction only became final in 2026 after appeals. Today, the fake amphitheater remains as a cautionary tale about the lengths some will go to exploit travelers' trust.