Two of Herculaneum's most famous and
beautiful domus reopened Wednesday after a 25-year restoration.
The domus in the Roman town buried by Vesuvius along with
Pompeii in 79 AD are the House of the Tuscan Colonnade and the
House of the Wooden Sacellum.
And the room of the custodian of the Augustales' sacellum is
also on display in its new guise, a real cold case on which
researchers are trying to shed light with new analyses on the
skeleton of a young man believed to be the custodian of the
college, an effort which should be completed in the coming days,
said Culture Minister Alessandri Giuli.
New work is also underway on the suburban baths, one of the most
fascinating and important public buildings in Herculaneum, as
well as, with its precious coverings and precious marbles, the
best preserved thermal building in the ancient world.
The reopening of the House of the Tuscan Colonnade and the
Wooden Sacellum, restored, said Giuli, with "wise mastery",
marks the completion of the first phase of the Domus project
which involves the conservative restoration of six domus
resulting from the joint work of the Herculaneum Archaeological
Park and the Packard Humanities Institute.
A partnership, the Minister of Culture announced, that will
continue with an investment of approximately 45 million euros,
allowing the resumption of archaeological excavations on the
site and the application of new technologies to research and the
enjoyment of the heritage as well as the construction of
warehouses and laboratories.
A "fruitful and far-sighted" alliance, said Giuli of the
collaboration that also includes interventions on an urban scale
such as the redevelopment of a neighborhood bordering the
excavations and the construction of a new complex of buildings
set back to the south of the archaeological site that will allow
the elimination of existing modern infrastructures on the edge
of the excavation and the retreat of the current excavation
limits to the east and south.
"New prospects", underlined the director of the Park, Francesco
Sirano, "are opening up thanks to the signing last July of the
memorandum of understanding with the Packard Humanities
Institute which provides for the construction of new warehouses,
laboratories, offices and above all the historic resumption,
almost a hundred years after the beginning of Maiuri's
excavations, of large-scale archaeological research in the
eastern area of ;;the ancient city".
With the reopenings, the launch of an App was also announced, a
guide and more, which allows access to the enormous wealth of
digital knowledge of the Park.
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