New lights and revamped archaeological area unveiled ahead of free daytime and evening openings from 4 September to 31 October.Rome's Pyramid of Cestius reopens to the public next week following three years of restoration work, with a new lighting system and a refurbished archaeological area.  The project, carried out by the Soprintendenza Speciale di Roma as part of the PNRR - Caput Mundi programme, will be marked by a series of free guided visits running from 4 September to 31 October.   Evening guided tours begin on 4 September and continue every Friday throughout the month, giving visitors the chance to experience the landmark after dark under its newly installed illumination.   Additional free daytime openings will also take place during September and October. All visits must be booked in advance via Eventbrite, with places allocated until fully booked.     The centrepiece of the works is a full overhaul of the scenographic lighting, both outside the monument and inside its burial chamber, designed to highlight the pyramid's architecture and the decorative features of the tomb, particularly in the evening hours.   Other improvements include a new accessibility route with fresh paving, restored green areas with a renewed irrigation system, new information panels and better-organised spaces for the site's resident cat colony.   Visitor information Evening tours run on Fridays 4, 11, 18 and 25 September, with three guided slots per evening at 19.00, 20.00 and 21.00 (45 minutes, maximum 30 people per group).   Free daytime self-guided visits take place on Saturdays 5, 12 and 19 September (16.30, 17.30, 18.30) and on Saturdays 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 October, with extended hourly slots from 10.00 to 16.00 on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.   All visits are free but require booking via Eventbrite, with a maximum of 50 people per daytime slot.   Visitors are advised to wear comfortable shoes, follow staff instructions, enter the burial chamber one at a time with heads lowered, and avoid climbing on walls or archaeological structures. About the monument Built at the end of the first century BC, the white marble pyramid is the only surviving example of the brief vogue for Egyptian-style architecture that swept Rome after Egypt became a Roman province. It serves as the funerary monument of Gaius Cestius, a wealthy magistrate who held the offices of praetor and tribune of the plebs.   According to legend recorded in an inscription on the monument's eastern flank, Cestius's heirs were required to complete the tomb within 330 days of his death or forfeit their inheritance - a deadline they are said to have met with room to spare.     Standing 36.4 metres high with a 29.5-metre square base, the pyramid was built using Roman concrete-and-brick technique faced with slabs of Lunense marble, allowing for a steeper profile than its Egyptian counterparts.   Its survival is largely due to its incorporation into the Aurelian Walls between AD 272 and 279, which protected it from the plundering that destroyed Rome's other ancient pyramids.   The monument underwent a thorough restoration in 2013, partly funded by private investment, and has been the subject of regular maintenance work ever since.   Further information is available at soprintendenzaspecialeroma.it website. Photo credit Fabio Caricchia.