UNESCO's Director-General at Pompeii and Herculaneum

This news article has been published on the UNESCO website following a visit by their Director-General to the Vesuvian sites over the last couple of days.



The Director-General congratulates the Italian authorities for progress achieved in the conservation of the iconic World Heritage site of the Archaeological Areas of Pompei and Herculaneum.

During her visit to Naples on the occasion of the World Urban Forum organized by UN-HABITAT, the Director-General, Irina Bokova, commended the Italian authorities, and in particular the Municipal authorities and Superintendency of Region for the positive emergency conservation achievements at the World Heritage archaeological complex of Pompei, following the collapse of walls in 2010 and 2011.

She expressed appreciation for the recruitment of 21 new and qualified technical staff to strengthen maintenance and management at the property, as well as progress accomplished by putting in place much-needed drainage, hydrological and restoration works, which have been initiated under UNESCO's supervision in 44 domus on the property.

"Preventive conservation, maintenance and restoration efforts are key to ensure sustainable conservation of cultural heritage", she said.

The strengthening of cooperation and coordination between the various stakeholders involved in the conservation of the property - the Government of Italy, the Region and the Municipal authorities under UNESCO's leadership -- has proved especially valuable in making effective progress in the preservation of the archeological areas.

The authorities informed the Director-General about their intention to submit a preliminary report on the state of conservation before the end of the year in compliance with the decision of the World Heritage Committee.

The report will also provide necessary information on updating and the implementation of the Management Plan, integrating information on the expansion of the buffer zone, risk management measures and an emergency interventions plan that documents needs and addresses the pressure of tourism. 

......

The Director-General also visited the World Heritage properties of Herculaneum, where she expressed satisfaction for the Herculaneum Conservation Project management system as a successful public-private partnership for the conservation of the archaeological property. 

 To read more click here.

Newspaper article: Italy allows Unesco into Pompeii

From The Art Newspaper:

The Roman city risks joining the World Heritage in Danger list

Pompeii is in crisis. A Unesco report has identified serious problems with the World Heritage Site, including structural damage to buildings, vandalism and a lack of qualified staff. Unesco’s director-general for culture, Francesco Bandarin, tells The Art Newspaper: “The state of conservation is a problem, because of a lack of maintenance of very fragile structures. Visitor services need a dramatic improvement".
More here.

UNESCO and Italy agree to cooperate on the restoration of Pompeii

UNESCO and Italy agree to cooperate on the restoration of Pompeii


UNESCO and Italy have agreed to collaborate on the restoration of the Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1997.

International attention turned to the World Heritage site in late 2010, when torrential rains led to the collapse of several vestiges including the Schola Armaturarum (Gladiators’ House) and the equally famous House of the Moralist.


According to the agreement, signed by Assistant Director-General for Culture, Francesco Bandarin on the morning of 29 November, UNESCO will provide expert advice to the Italian government on ways to improve the property’s conservation, in keeping with the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee. UNESCO’s contribution to the restoration will be financed by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.

“This agreement is the result of a long-standing cooperation between UNESCO and Italy in support of the conservation of World Heritage” said Mr Bandarin who also described the safeguarding of the site of Pompei as a “complex endeavor.”

The agreement foresees collaboration over a period of nine months which may be extended.

The Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, contains the vestiges of two flourishing cities and numerous villas that were engulfed in ashes and lava when Mount Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79 AD, leaving the site buried until the beginning of excavations started in the middle of 18th centuries.

Source

UNESCO report

Thanks also to Didier Daimonax for posting to our FB page a link to the recent UNESCO report on the condition of Pompeii. What follows here is the Executive Summary and List of Recommendations. To read the full report, follow this link.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

The joint ICOMOS/UNESCO mission to the World Heritage property of Pompei, Herculaneum was invited by the Italian government following the collapse of the Schola Armaturarum on the night of 5-6 November 2010. Because of adverse weather conditions, the mission took place in two parts. The ICOMOS experts visited from 1 to 5 December, and the UNESCO expert was on site from 10 to 13 January. The mission visited all three parts of the World Heritage property and examined the overall state of conservation as well as the specific collapse. This report has been produced jointly by the mission members.

The mission found that the Schola Armaturarum had collapsed following the heaviest rainfall in 80 years. The building is adjacent to an unexcavated portion of the site which encouraged waterlogging. It had been weakened by bombing in World War II and had then been given a heavy and inappropriate reinforced concrete roof. The mission did not consider that the collapse of the Schola, in itself, has had a significant impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property but agreed that further deterioration across the property could lead to significant damage to attributes that sustain the Outstanding Universal Value, authenticity and integrity in a few years.

Overall, the mission found that much of the property was in a good state of repair. They were concerned however by the poor state of maintenance of parts of the enormous site of Pompei and by the number of houses and other structures and requiring major conservation work at both Pompei and Herculaneum. They were also concerned by the gradual deterioration of wall paintings, mosaic floors and other decorative features. While some decay is inevitable in an exposed ruin, the mission considered that conditions were being exacerbated by excessive moisture and lack of routine maintenance. They were also concerned by the amount of plant growth, particularly ivy, in some places at Pompei, though elsewhere this is being vigorously tackled. Some of these structures are at risk and need urgent intervention. Generally, the backlog of maintenance at Pompei needs to be tackled urgently. Equally, drainage needs to be improved so that rain and ground water are readily and rapidly removed to prevent the damage being caused by waterlogging of the ground and by rising and penetrating damp in standing structures.

The mission considered that visitor management was an issue both in terms of potential erosion and in terms of increasing their enjoyment and education. They recognised that advances had been made both in terms of interpretation, arrangements for access and through the increasing number of houses which had been restored to permit access. However, these advances are to some extent negated by the lack of custodians which means that large parts of both Pompei and Herculaneum are not accessible to visitors on a regular basis. The mission considered that the development of a public use plan as part of the overall management system for the property could help the development of a more integrated approach to visitor management.

The mission fully recognises the skill and devotion of the staff of the Superintendency to their site. However, there are insufficient skilled professional staff to manage what needs to be done and they are entirely dependent on contractors for carrying out the necessary work. The mission believes that this has been exacerbated by diverting scarce resources to non-urgent projects such as the restoration of the theatre at Pompei. It is also probable that staff have been distracted by institutional instability over the last three years or so.

The mission was also concerned that there is no clear definition of the Outstanding Universal Value for the property to provide a base-line for effective management and conservation. There are also no measures for monitoring the condition of the property. Apart from Herculaneum there appeared to be an inadequate information base since the Geographic Information System (GIS) for Pompei contains no data from later than 2002. Pompei does have a Management Plan but it did not seem to be used as an effective tool for planning and driving management decisionmaking at the site. There is a need for a clearer focus on these issues and on focusing all efforts on key priorities. At Herculaneum the joint project between the Superintendency and the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP) has done much to eliminate the maintenance backlog there. With the life of the project drawing to a close, it is essential that the good practices developed there are closely studied by the Superintendency and adopted as far as possible across the property.

The mission concluded that the Outstanding Universal Value of the property had not yet been significantly compromised. However there are a considerable number of buildings at risk and a major backlog of conservation. If these are not tackled rapidly and urgently, there could be a significant risk to Outstanding Universal Value in the next few years. The mission also considers that more may need to be done to protect the visual setting of the property, particularly the vital visual links to Mount Vesuvius. The mission considers therefore that a further mission should visit the property within the next two years and that the World Heritage Committee should examine the state of conservation of the property again in 2013 to assess whether its condition has improved or worsened.

The Mission has made a number of recommendations which fall into four groups:

A. Immediate measures to improve conservation and maintenance
B. Measures to maintain and enhance the skills base and provide necessary information
C. Measures to improve the management of site and understanding of OUV
D. Follow-up action by UNESCO
A. Immediate measures to improve conservation and maintenance

Recommendation 1: The mission recommends that priority in work programmes should be given to dealing with the maintenance backlog at the property, the restoration of those buildings identified as being at risk by the mission together with any others identified in the condition survey carried out by the Superintendency.

Recommendation 2: The creation of effective drainage systems, particularly at Pompei, should be carried out as soon as possible to remove one of the basic causes of decay. As well as dealing with ground drainage, as far as possible rain should be prevented from entering roofed structures.

B. Measures to maintain and enhance the skills base and provide necessary information

Recommendation 3: The mission recommends that all contractors should be assessed for their ability to carry out skilled conservation work before they are allowed to tender for conservation work in the World Heritage property.

Recommendation 4: The Superintendency and Ministry of Culture should determine how many technical staff are required to carry out an effective programme to eradicate the current backlog of conservation and maintenance and should take steps to provide those resources as soon as possible.

Recommendation 5: The mission recommends the Superintendency and the Ministry of Culture to provide sufficient custody staff at Pompei, as a matter of urgency, to enable more of the property to be opened to the public in order to spread the visitor load and improve visitors’ understanding of the site. This should be an essential element of the public use plan proposed in Recommendation 12.

Recommendation 6: The GIS for Pompei should be updated with all relevant information and kept up-to-date so that it can be used as a basic tool for the conservation and management of the site.

Recommendation 7: The Superintendency should plan with the HCP for the takeover in due course of the Herculaneum GIS and be resourced for its future maintenance and use as a basic tool for the conservation and management of the site.

Recommendation 8: The Superintendency with, if possible, support from the HCP should develop common standards for GIS in use within the Vesuvian group of monuments to enable easy exchange of data and regular updating as a basis for improved information management.

C. Measures to improve management of site and understanding of OUV

Recommendation 9: The Italian Government is recommended to submit a full Statement of Outstanding Universal Value by 1 February 2012 for consideration and adoption by the World Heritage Committee as the basis for the future management of the property in accordance with Decision 34 COM 10B.3 of the World Heritage Committee.

Recommendation 10: The Superintendency should develop and implement a set of simple monitoring measures for the condition and use of the site and should have these in place by 1 February 2012 and submit them for review by ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre.

Recommendation 11: The Ministry of Culture is recommended to maintain institutional stability within the Special Superintendency in order to allow it to focus on managing and conserving the site as its main priority.

Recommendation 12: The Superintendency should review the Management Plan with other stakeholders and the Ministry of Culture to identify ways in which it can be used more effectively as a tool for the effective conservation and management of the property. The Management Plan should include public use and risk management plans. The Italian Government should report on progress on this by 1 February 2013.

Recommendation 13: The Superintendency, the Packard Humanities Institute and the British School at Rome, as the partners in the Herculaneum Conservation Project agreed and are implementing a phased programme over the next few years for withdrawal by the Project which enables the Superintendency to continue to implement the approaches developed, particularly in the area of programmed maintenance. The Ministry and the Superintendency must guarantee their commitment to this programme. Ideally, the private partners should follow the phased handover for conservation works with some form of light support for a number of years to favour the commitment to the improved management and conservation approaches by the public authority at Herculaneum (but perhaps also at the other sites in it is care), particularly in a period when the management system for these sites might be subject to change.

Recommendation 14: It is recommended that measures for the effective protection of the visual setting of the property, particularly the visual links with Mount Vesuvius, should be reviewed and strengthened as necessary, possibly by the extension of the buffer zones.

D. Follow-up action by UNESCO

Recommendation 15: It is recommended that the World Heritage Committee should invite the State Party to submit a State of Conservation report for consideration at its 37th session in 2013, reporting on progress on the Recommendations made by the mission and the general state of conservation of the World Heritage property. It is further recommended that the State Party should be invited to request a joint ICOMOS/ UNESCO mission during 2012 in order to assist with this process.

Ercolano come modello di gestione dei beni culturali per i giapponesi

Una troupe televisiva del canale giapponese NHK è stata ad Ercolano per realizzare un documentario sui siti culturali Patrimonio dell’Umanità dell’Unesco. Il loro programma sarà trasmesso in Giappone dove 3 siti nominati saranno valutati per essere inclusi nella lista dei siti Unesco alla riunione del Comitato che si terrà a Parigi questo mese e di conseguenza hanno in corso una discussione pubblica su come gestire al meglio questi siti in un mondo che è attualmente in piena crisi economica. Mentre Pompei è stata al centro di un dibattito simile in Italia, è Ercolano che continua ad essere citata come modello di gestione innovativa e partecipatoria per quanto riguarda l’Herculaneum Conservation Project negli scavi e il Centro Herculaneum come ponte tra le città antica e moderna. Entrambi questi progetti sono stati coinvolti nelle riprese NHK di questa settimana sul sito archeologico, ma anche nel centro storico dove hanno studiato il patrimonio culturale ercolanese nel suo complesso. Una versione del documentario sarà proiettata alla riunione del Comitato Unesco dove il tema di quest’anno è la partecipazione della comunità locale per cui il Centro Herculaneum è stato di grande interesse dal momento che porta insieme sia il Comune che la Soprintendenza con la missione di facilitare il coinvolgimento degli ercolanesi stessi nel proprio patrimonio culturale.

Pompéi, patrimoine en péril?

This is clearly the week for French articles about Pompeii! This is an interesting interview with Francesco Bandarin of UNESCO from Sciences et Avenir (which I first saw on the Pompei: arte, storia ed archeologia Facebook page):

Pompéi, patrimoine en péril?
Le mois prochain l'Unesco doit se prononcer sur le cas de Pompéi, site très célèbre où plusieurs murs se sont effondrés. Questions à Francesco Bandarin, sous-directeur général pour la culture à l’Unesco, directeur du Centre du Patrimoine mondial.

Lors de la prochaine réunion du Patrimoine mondial prévu au mois de juin, la situation du site de Pompéi, en Italie, doit être évoquée. L’écroulement de plusieurs murs du site classé avait engendré une grave polémique. Quelle suite l’Unesco compte-t-elle donner à cette affaire ?
Francesco Bandarin: Deux missions d’experts se sont déjà rendues sur place au cours des derniers mois. Or je dirais que si le cas de Pompéi est compliqué par ce qu’il se déroule dans une région « complexe », le problème, lui, est simple. Il manque tout simplement de l’argent ! Ce qui se passe là est absurde. La billetterie produit 25 millions d’euros de recette avec les seules entrées des visiteurs et ce site –qui est une ville antique- ne fonctionne qu’avec un seul archéologue et trois ouvriers !! C’est une situation invraisemblable! Il y a là un véritable problème d’allocation de ressources, techniques et financières.

Read the full interview here.

Management of Pompei to be scrutinized in second phase of UNESCO expert mission

For those wondering what happened to the UNESCO inspection team that visited the Vesuvian sites in December, here's the official statement. The team's conclusions will not be published until after a second visit later this month - watch this space...

Entro giugno pronto il 'piano di gestione' richiesto dall' l'Unesco

Press release from the SAP:

Firmata Convenzione tra Commissario delegato di Pompei e la Tess Costa del Vesuvio

Entro il mese di giugno 2010 Pompei, Ercolano , Oplonti e tutto il territorio dell'area archeologica vesuviana saranno dotati del Piano di Gestione, una sorta di Piano regolatore vincolante per i comuni coinvolti, richiesto dall'Unesco come condizione per permanere nella 'lista del patrimonio mondiale' . Con l'odierna firma della convenzione tra il Commissario delegato per l'emergenza dell'area archeologica di Napoli e Pompei Marcello Fiori e la Tess Costa del Vesuvio rappresentata dal Presidente Leopoldo Spedaliere si è compiuto il primo passo verso l' elaborazione del piano che dovrà recepire, come già indicato nel Codice dei Beni Culturali,. le indicazioni dell'Unesco. Indicazioni che più volte sollecitate proprio per assicurare la conservazione dei siti italiani e creare le condizioni per la loro valorizzazione. 'la grande novità di quello che possiamo definire un 'piano dei piani' è che finalmente il territorio vesuviano ruoterà intorno alle potenzialità di Pompei e delle aree archeologiche- sottolinea Fiori - dalla segnaletica ai trasporti, dai servizi per il turista all'agricoltura sostenibile, tutto rientrerà in un sistema virtuoso che gli attori sul territorio saranno chiamati ad applicare per rispondere a dei parametri giustamente ritenuti indispensabili. Una richiesta quella dell'Unesco per la quale si stava lavorando da tempo ma per la quale occorreva una concretizzazione che la convenzione con la la Tess ci consente di ottenere''.

Già nel giungo 2007 la Soprintendenza di pompei aveva infatti sottoscritto un protocollo d'intesa con i comuni di Pompei, Ercolano, Torre annunziata e la Tess designando quest'ultima come soggetto responsabile di un primo piano di gestione poi approvato nel luglio 2009. I''Un piano che occorreva rendere più efficace tenendo conto delle specificità dell'area vesuviana e di tutte le sue enormi potenzialità'' spiega Fiori.

“Implementiamo il lavoro del piano di gestione del sito Unesco - ha detto il presidente della Tess Leopoldo Spedaliere - e questo naturalmente ci gratifica molto perché si tratta di un’iniziativa di sistema sull’area che evolve ulteriormente le attività della nostra agenzia, dopo essere già stati soggetto gestore nell’Accordo di reciprocità ed aver lavorato alla valorizzazione dei siti culturali dei comuni dell’area ed avere accompagnato gli stessi nel Più Europa. E’ come chiudere un ragionamento anche dal punto di vista infrastrutturale: facciamo in modo infatti che gli scavi guardino alle città e che le città guardino agli scavi in un’ottica integrata ed in un modello di governance che tenga conto anche delle innovazioni che si stanno apportando”.