Superintendency staff sign petition against Ministry management of Pompeii

Staff of the Pompeii Superintendency have organized a petition in protest after being criticized over the House of the Gladiators collapsed. Specifically they are upset that the Minister of Culture has blamed Pompeii's technical staff for the collapse, whereas they see it as a result of years of Ministeral interference in the site's management (including the imposition of managers and special commissioners).
You can read the text of the petition here.

Dealing with decay

So the House of the Gladiators has collapsed, and I am an archaeologist working at Pompeii, what does it - professionally - mean to me? After a week of reading about the collapse, looking at the pictures, and discussing it with several people, I spent some time last Friday afternoon to organize my thoughts and writing them down. It resulted in a kind of 'working paper' that I put up on my website. I thought it might be interesting for the Blogging Pompeii community as well. A PDF is available here.
Basically, my perhaps at points slightly provocative argument is that the inevitable (and unstoppable) phenomenon of decay at sites like Pompeii has implications for the way we prioritize our research agenda, and I basically feel that we need to partially stop doing certain things, and start doing certain other things before the data gets lost. Not all of you will necessarily agree with all that I am saying, and, actually, my personal ideas are developing rapidly at this very moment, so I am open to any good arguments, but after all, the key issue is this: it is an problem that - I feel - deserves more open, explicit discussion within the scholarly community, and this seems like the best place to start. We all have our ideas, lets see where we agree and disagree, and how that can help us making sensible decisions.

TV interview with Carandini on Pompeii

Yesterday evening's episode of "Parla con me" included an interview with archaeologist Andrea Carandini on the subject of Pompeii (start watching at 8 minutes in). While obviously talking about the recent collapse of the House of the Gladiators, he also gives his opinions on a wide range of subjects related to the site's management. He was invited in his role of Presidente del Consiglio Superiore dei Beni Culturali i.e. President of the Council for Cultural Heritage which advises the government on heritage matters.

Viewers should note that some of his facts are not necessarily 100% accurate... (e.g. visitor numbers seem wildly exaggerated and we can be sure that Packard is definately not English!)

Collapse statement

There is now an official statement on the collapse - on the PompeiViva website
www.pompeiviva.it/pv/it/communicatistampa/1199904878179.htm

Comunicato Stampa - MiBAC

Dichiarazione del Segretario Generale Roberto Cecchi

Alle prime ore di questa mattina, a Pompei in via dell’Abbondanza si è verificato il crollo del solaio in calcestruzzo armato che ricopriva la Schola Armaturarum e di larga parte delle murature perimetrali .
L’edificio è da sempre chiuso al pubblico ed è visibile solo dall’esterno.
L’area è stata immediatamente transennata a cura dei funzionari e degli impiegati della Sovrintendenza di Pompei e si sta provvedendo ad una serie di puntellamenti che interessano anche la parte dell’edificio adiacente.
La Schola è costituita da un unico locale rettangolare di circa m. 8x10 e alto 6 metri. Verosimilmente – ma si tratta di accertamenti in corso - il crollo ha interessato le murature verticali ricostruite, mentre parrebbe essersi conservata la parte più bassa, per un’altezza di circa m. 1,50. E cioè, la parte che ospita le decorazioni affrescate, che quindi si ritiene che potrebbero essere recuperate.
La Schola era stata bombardata nel corso della Seconda Guerra mondiale.
Alla fine degli anni Quaranta, era stato restaurata completando della parte superiore delle murature e rifacendo la copertura.
Allo stato degli accertamenti appena svolti, il dissesto che ha provocato il crollo parrebbe imputabile ad uno smottamento provocato del terrapieno che si trova a ridosso della costruzione e che per effetto delle abbondanti piogge di questi giorni era completamente imbibito d’acqua.
Il crollo del tetto ha determinato la distruzione di parte delle murature, della facciata e dello spigolo dell’abitazione nell’ insula adiacente.
Si è provveduto a chiudere al pubblico un breve tratto di Via dell’Abbondanza in corrispondenza del crollo, poiché le macerie ostruiscono parzialmente la via, e a puntellare alcune strutture pericolanti.
Questo ennesimo caso di dissesto ripropone il tema della tutela del patrimonio culturale e quindi della necessità di disporre di risorse adeguate e di provvedere a quella manutenzione ordinaria che non facciamo più da almeno mezzo secolo.
La cura di un patrimonio delle dimensioni di quello di Pompei e di quello nazionale non lo si può affidare ad interventi episodici ed eclatanti. La soluzione è la cura quotidiana, come si è iniziato a fare per l’area archeologica centrale di Roma e per la stessa Pompei.

08/11/2010

Pompeii takes on a contemporary meaning

Following the collapse of the House of the Gladiators, Pompeii has become a subject of discussion around the world, with particular attention naturally being paid in Italy. This blog has given links to various newspaper articles that have covered the story, but can't hope to show the huge coverage given on various TV news programmes and talk shows. I've seen journalists asking the Minister of Culture, Bondi if he feels responsable for the collapse and if he's going to resign over it (he replied no to both), and the President of the Republic, Napolitano has taken a personal interest in the question - what happened and what needs to be done. Images of the collapse have formed the backdrop to discussions about politics.

Interestingly for some the disaster at Pompeii has become a metaphor for the state of the nation, where more attention is being paid to TV dancing girls than investing in caring for our cultural heritage. Comparisons are being drawn between the extraordinary amounts of money that politicians earn and spend (as detailed, for example, in the book La Casta), and the continual cuts that have been made to culture over the years.

The Pompeii metaphor was extended even further in last night's edition of "Vieni via con me" (a new programme offering political and cultural commentary) where various lists were read out that shed light on Italy and the Italians - one was "Categories of prostitutes who worked at Pompeii before the AD79 eruption" (if you click on this link you'll find the Pompeii list among the others which are equally interesting). The final category was implicitly linked to recent scandals whereby prime minister Berlusconi has been accused of hosting parties at his estate with prostitutes and escorts and reveals how Pompeii continues to provide food for thought in the modern world:

"Delicatae and Famosae: cultured, classy, the most refined women, they often prosituted themselves to influence politics through their powerful clients..."

Collapse in the House of the Gladiators

Sigh, these stories are becoming too frequent ... News from ANSA.it of a collapse in the House of the Gladiators, and initial reports are bad:

POMPEI: CROLLATA INTERA DOMUS GLADIATORI, NON SOLO MURO

NAPOLI, 6 NOV - Non e' crollato solo un muro ma l'intera Domus dei Gladiatori, cosi' chiamata perche' al suo interno si allenavano gli atleti nell'antica Pompei. Il crollo, secondo primi accertamenti, e' avvenuto intorno alle ore 6 ed e' stato notato dai custodi appena arrivati al lavoro verso le ore 7.30. L'area al momento e' transennata e non e' possibile accedere. La Domus e' sulla via principale, via dell'Abbondanza, quella maggiormente percorsa dai turisti, in direzione Porta Anfiteatro. Predisposto un percorso alternativo per i tanti turisti.

Is anyone out there at the moment? Can you post photos?

UPDATE: Another article, with photos, here. It looks like the entire house has collapsed.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Another report claims it is the schola armaturarum that has collapsed, not the House of the Gladiators. There's another photo here.

More photos here.