The Jewish catacombs under Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's Rome villa are being restored and readied for visitors. "It's going to take several months to prepare the site and make it safe," said the head of Italy's Jewish Cultural Heritage Foundation, Bruno Orvieto.

"We have to be very careful because there are delicate wall paintings down there that date back some 1,800 years," he stressed.

"We must also take care to respect Jewish rituals regarding all of the 1,500 tombs," Orvieto added.

However, a sneak preview of the 3rd and 4th century AD catacombs will be possible on September 2, when the European Day of Jewish Culture will be celebrated in 30 countries, including 55 sites around Italy.

The six-mile-long network of catacombs - in which Mussolini had a bomb shelter built during the Second World War - are a little-known feature of Rome.

However, some scholars believe they may actually predate the famous Christian catacombs that are dotted around the Eternal City.

Villa Torlonia, the grand neoclassical residence where Mussolini and his family lived between 1925 and 1943, was recently restored after decades of neglect.

There are plans to build a Shoah museum in the villa's famous landscaped park.