The largest funerary monument in the world after the pyramids of Egypt, it echoes with the ghosts of emperors and the splendour that once was Rome.

Now, after decades of being neglected, the Mausoleum of Augustus, a hulking stone building on the banks of the River Tiber, is to be restored and opened to tourists.

Visitors will be able to venture into its cavernous interior, where the cremated remains of the Emperor Augustus were later joined by other emperors, including Tiberius, Claudius, Vespasian and the psychotic, scheming Caligula.

When it was built 2,000 years ago by Augustus, Rome’s first emperor, it consisted of a huge circular chamber covered with a roof that was topped by pillars and statues.

The pillars, statues and roof are no more, but the main structure remains hugely impressive, guarding an internal sanctuary where the ashes of the emperors and their relatives were kept in golden urns which were displayed in marble niches.