Rome, Italy (AHN) – Less than a week after an ancient house once buried in volcanic ash by Mount Vesuvius collapsed into rubble, Italian opposition groups have called for Culture Minister Sandro Bondi to take responsibility for the incident and step down from his post.

Antonio di Pietro and Luigi Bersani, who head the Italy of Values party and Democratic Party respectively, submitted formal motions for the minister’s resignation Wednesday.

Their actions came after the so-called “House of Gladiators” fell at the archaeological site of the ancient city of Pompeii, which was destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The house was once owned by gladiator Marcus Sandro Fronto.

On his visit to the northeast Italian region, Bersani said that people around the world saw the images of Pompeii’s collapsed house and shared similar opinions on Bondi’s responsibilities.

However, the culture minister poured cold water on the resignation demands. He charged the opposition politicians were trying to make his destiny part of the country’s ongoing political crisis.

The minister said the Pompeii house collapsed because of local management problems at the site and not because of cuts in cultural budgets.

“The problems in Pompeii, like those of a large part of our artistic heritage, have existed for years without anyone resolving them definitively or imposing an efficient strategy,” Bondi said.

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