Part of ceiling collapses at Nero's palace in Rome

A large chunk of the ceiling of Nero’s Golden Palace in Rome collapsed today.

Around 60 square yards fell from the vault in one of the galleries inside the complex.

Built by Roman emperor Nero in the first century A.D., the sumptuous palace is known to many by its Latin name Domus Aurea.

It was reopened in 1999 following 18 years of closure because of structural concerns, and it soon became one of the capital’s most popular tourist sites.

But the monument remains plagued by structural problems and damp.

Part of the ceiling already came crashing down a decade ago. It was not clear if it was the same area that collapsed today.

With its frescoed halls and gold-encrusted ceilings, the palace was meant as a fabled residence for one of Rome’s most depraved emperors. It sprawled across nearly 200 acres, occupying parts of four of Rome’s seven ancient hills.

But Nero did not enjoy the palace for too long. It was completed in A.D. 68, the same year he committed suicide.

The complex lay under tons of dirt in the bowels of a hill for centuries, before coming to light 500 years ago when Renaissance scholars began researching the imperial period.