VILLA OF DIOMEDES – THE CURTAIN RISES! SITE ON SHOW 2nd July 2021
Showcasing the ongoing restoration and recent studies conducted on the Villa
OPENING OF THE SITE TO THE PUBLIC 10:30 - 15:30
PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK 16:30
The Villa of Diomedes: The making of a Roman villa in Pompeii
On Friday 2nd July the curtain will rise on the restoration of the Villa of Diomedes, the spectacular residential complex located along Via dei Sepolcri, at the Porta Ercolano Necropolis.
Among the earliest buildings to be excavated at the site of Pompeii, between 1771 and 1775, it was one of the monuments most discussed and depicted by the travellers of the Grand Tour.
The subject of a long and detailed research project, the complex, which is currently undergoing restoration, will open on the 2nd July to the public, who will be able to visit the most representative rooms and witness the ongoing works.
Between 10:30 and 15:30, visitors will be able to access the site, accompanied by technicians and restorers. The duration of the visit, for a maximum of 5 visitors at a time, will be approximately 15 minutes. Prior booking is not required. Entrance: Via dei Sepolcri.
The works and restoration in progress form part of the Great Pompeii Project I - Restoration of the Porta Ercolano Necropolis area operation, and are being overseen by Arch. Annamaria Mauro; the Project Manager is Eng. Armando Santamaria. The companies carrying out the work are De Marco S.r.l. of Bari and Lithos S.r.l. of Venice.
“The event ‘The Curtain Rises! Site on Show’ forms part of a series of initiatives inspired by the idea of Public Archaeology promoted by the APP, in collaboration with economic operators, specifically in this case De Marco S.r.l. of Bari and Lithos S.r.l. of Venice, who had proposed their participation as part of a tender for improvement works”, – declares Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii - “This good practice may serve as a model for future works at the Park just as it could for any archaeological site. Pompeii is a living place also thanks to the continuing research and restoration works, and our goal is to involve the public ever more closely with these activities, thereby continuing the inclusive approach to visitor access developed as part of the Great Pompeii Project under the direction of Massimo Osanna, whom we wish to thank for attending this event”.
At 16:30 a preview of the book The Villa of Diomedes: The making of a Roman villa in Pompeii will be presented, which merges data from recent studies with research conducted by an international and multidisciplinary team, coordinated by Helene Dessales (École normale supérieure, AOROC, UMR 8546, PSL Research University).
Speakers: Massimo Osanna, Director General of Museums, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Annamaria Mauro, Director of Works, Claude Pouzadoux, Director of the Centre Jean Bérard, Priscilla Munzi, Assistant Director of the Centre Jean Bérard, Hélène Dessales, Coordinator of the research project (ENS, AOROC) and editor of the book, as well as Elvira Boglione and Pasquale de Marco, Representatives of the contracting companies.
Launched in 2012, the program of multidisciplinary studies has retraced the evolution of the building, from the construction material of the Roman villa to the works of modern and contemporary times.
The various interventions that marked its life during ancient times, until the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, have been identified and modelled, as have the restoration works that transformed it from the late 18th century up to the present day. As part of this research, various fields of expertise have been combined: the history of the excavations and restorations, the archaeology of construction, databases, geographic information systems, geophysics, structural engineering, information technology and 3-D modelling. The thirty-three contributions which have been brought together reflect the various intersecting points of view on the entire construction of this individual villa.
Editor of the volume Hélène Dessales is professor of archaeology at the École normale supérieure (Paris). Her work focuses on architecture and techniques of construction in the Roman period, particularly at the site of Pompeii. The book brings together contributions from a further twenty seven French and Italian specialists, including: Clotilde Boust, Mathilde Carrive, Julien Cavero, Guilhem Chapelin, Arnaud Coutelas, Rita Deiana, Marco Di Ludovico, Giuseppina De Martino, Julien Dubouloz, Ambre d’Harcourt, Éloïse Letellier-Taillefer, Filippo Lorenzoni, Anne Maigret, Gaetano Manfredi, Frédérique Marchand-Beaulieu, Annamaria Mauro, Andrea Milanese, Claudio Modena, Florence Monier, Alban-Brice Pimpaud, Jean Ponce, Andrea Prota, Enzo Rizzo, Amedeo Rossi, Alfonso Santoriello, Agnès Tricoche and Maria Rosa Valluzzi. Preface by Claude Pouzadoux, Massimo Osanna and Stéphane Verger. Editorial coordination by Magali Cullin-Mingaud. The book is a co-publication of the AOROC laboratory and of the Centre Jean Bérard at the publisher Hermann, in Paris.
