BBC: Pompeii wall collapse damage inspected by Unesco team

Posted on the BBC website an hour ago:

Pompeii wall collapse damage inspected by Unesco team

After a series of wall collapses at Italy's ancient city of Pompeii, experts from UN cultural organisation Unesco has arrived to examine the site.

One wall gave way on Tuesday and two more the next day, three weeks after the House of Gladiators crumbled.

Officials blamed Wednesday's wall collapses on heavy rain but Unesco says concerns have been raised about Pompeii's state of preservation.

The UN team will assess the World Heritage site for further problems.

Unesco said the three-day mission would seek to identify the reason for the collapses at the historic site, come up with possible protection measures and encourage the Italian authorities to adopt a plan for the future.

"We can give advice and we can work with them but ultimately responsibility for the site rests with the Italian authorities," Unesco spokeswoman Sue Williams told the BBC.

The rash of problems at one of the world's most emblematic archaeological sites have acutely embarrassed the Italian government.

The opposition accuses Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government of not spending more to protect the country's heritage, and there have been calls for the resignation of Culture Minister Sandro Bondi.

Gladiators

Pompeii's problems surfaced when the House of Gladiators was found in ruins in early November.

Known as the Schola Armaturarum, it was used by gladiators for training before fights in the nearby amphitheatre.

There was speculation that recent heavy rains might have made the structure unstable.

Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano described the collapse as a "shame for Italy".

Heavy rain was also blamed for the three wall collapses this week.

Of the two that gave way on Wednesday, officials said neither were of artistic value.

One was part of a partition wall between two buildings along the central route of Via Stabiana.

The other was an upper part of a wall from the House of the small Lupanar.

Pompeii was completely buried in ash in AD79 by a volcanic eruption from nearby Mount Vesuvius.

It was not uncovered until the 18th Century and it was made a World Heritage site in 1997.

More Comment on the State of Pompeii

From L'espresso (la Repubblica) today. It includes a note on the two (or 3) colapses over the past few days.

http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio/pompei-ecco-cosa-fanno/2139405

Because the large theatre is my research area I noted with interest the picture and the comment on mechanical excavators in the theatre. In fairness I have not seen nor have I had reports of diggers *in* the theatre, and the image that is being used is not recent (the rear walls of the however as the image shows work has gone on between the theatre and the quadraporticus.

When I say "work" what I mean is the loss of that area to access, my permisso this year explicitly forbade entry into this area, presumably as it is now a workshop/storage/greenroom servicing the large theatre and the temporary portacabins have been plumbed in, this area was considered too dangerous with things being moved around at the close of the theatre season. Given that I had permissions for the whole of VIII.7 and even the buildings currently undergoing work with the Sarno Canal redevelopment were not officially off limits, this was surprising. I include a newer image from September this year to clarify the situation.

DB

More collapses at Pompeii?

I'm hearing news that two more small walls have collapsed at Pompeii this morning following constant rainfall for some weeks. There have been no official announcements yet, so watch this space for real news that confirms/denies the gossip.
The UNESCO visit tomorrow is perfect timing...

A multisensory trail at Herculaneum: a different way for you to visit the site

Jo beat me to it this morning in posting the link to the Soprintendenza's website where the new guide to Herculaneum's "multisensory trail" has just gone online. At the moment you'll only be able to download the Italian version - but I can promise that the English version will arrive (delayed because I'm doing the translation in my spare time!) as will a French version (being proof read but exists!). The Centro Nazionale del Libro Parlato (National Centre for Talking Books) has also just agreed to record MP3 versions in all three languages, which we hope to make available as soon as humanly possible...

In the meantime, the least I can do is share with you the English summary of the project taken from the press release issued by the Herculaneum Centre (shorter document so I managed to translate this one in time!). If you want the full press release document, it should be online at the official Soprintendenza website later today or you can email centro[at]herculaneum.org.

If you want to stimulate your senses and experience the ancient city in a different way, then there is a new way of visiting the archaeological site of Herculaneum. A guide to a new multisensory trail is available as a free download from the Superintendency’s website (www.pompeiisites.org). The guide is currently available in Italian and there will soon be English and French versions too. Thanks to a partnership set up between the Herculaneum Centre and the Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti di Napoli (Italian Union for the Blind and Partially Sighted, Naples Section), an agreement has also been made with the Centro Nazionale del Libro Parlato (National Centre for Talking Books) to create an mp3 audio version.

The guide is compatible with electronic readers for blind and partially sighted people to use or it can be read directly by the person accompanying them or indeed any other visitor. It uses a series of symbols to indicate where there are features to touch, sounds to listen to or smells to appreciate and even how you can explore the archaeological site with your whole body, simply walking through it.

While the trail was created with the visually impaired in mind, it does not limit this category of visitor to a separate part of the site, but instead makes the most of the site’s existing features and offers all visitors a different way of visiting Italy’s cultural heritage.

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Inauguration for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

From 3 December 2010 the new guide to the trail will be available to download from the internet for all those who would like to use it for their visit. On that day there will also be a short press conference at the ticket office of the archaeological site at Herculaneum at 10.30 during which the project will be presented to the public. Later that same day there will be guided tours organized for those who book in advance, in particular the blind and partially-sighted citizens of Ercolano and journalists are invited to participate.

For further information and to book please contact the Manager of the Herculaneum Centre, c.biggi@herculaneum.org or 335 7526632.

Two more minor collapses at Pompeii this morning

Reports of two more minor collapses at Pompeii this morning, in English (from the Associated Press) and Italian (from La Repubblica):

2 walls give way in latest Pompeii collapse

ROME (AP) — Pompeii officials say two more walls have given way inside the 2,000-year-old archaeological site, the second collapse in as many days.

Pompeii's Archaeological Superintendency said the walls collapsed Wednesday morning as a result of heavy rains over the past several days.

The superintendency said the collapses concern the upper parts of a wall in an ancient house and a partition wall between two buildings. Both walls were ancient, but featured no frescoes, according to the officials.

The area has been cordoned off as cultural officials review the damage.

On Tuesday, a stretch of garden wall ringing an ancient house gave way.

Last month, a frescoed house where gladiators prepared for combat, the Schola Armaturarum, collapsed.

Nuovo cedimento a Pompei

crollano due muri in aerea archeologicaPOMPEI - Sono crollati altri due muri all'interno dell'area archeologica di Pompei. La notizia è stata confermata sia dal sindaco di Pompei, Claudio d'Alessio, sia dalla Soprintendenza dei Beni archeologici. Al momento sono in corso le verifiche dei tecnici per stabilire l'entità dei danni.

Secondo le prime informazioni si tratta di due pareti senza affreschi. La prima è in Via Stabiana, ed è un muretto divisorio di due ambienti, la cui malta secca non ha potuto sostenere insieme le pietre che lo costituivano scalzate da una radice d'albero venuta alla luce per la pioggia che ha portato via abbondante terreno. Il secondo muretto, anche questo di 1-2 metri, era nell'accesso ad un ambiente di servizio laterale della casa del Lupanare piccolo, da non confondere con i Lupanari affrescati.

Ieri era crollato un muretto grezzo di sei-sette metri nel giardino della Casa del Moralista mentre il 6 novembre scorso a cedere era stata la Schola Armaturarum.

Multi-sensory visit to Herculaneum to be inaugurated

From the SAP site (English and French to follow at later date, apparently), news of a new initiative by the Herculaneum Centre (which, BTW, can be followed on Facebook):

Un Percorso Multisensoriale agli Scavi di Ercolano

Una visita alternativa per tutti

Un nuovo modo di visitare gli scavi di Ercolano è stato ideato per chi preferisce un percorso stimolante per i sensi e desidera provare un’esperienza diversa della città antica. 

Una guida al nuovo percorso è disponibile da scaricare gratuitamente da qui per tutti coloro che vogliono consultarla prima della visita. Attualmente la guida è in lingua italiana e prossimamente sarà disponibile anche in inglese e francese. Grazie inoltre alla collaborazione instaurata con l’Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti di Napoli sono stati presi accordi con il Centro Nazionale del Libro Parlato per creare una versione audio in formato mp3.

Per i ciechi e gli ipovedenti, la guida è stata realizzata in formato testuale accessibile, in alternativa potrà essere letta direttamente da un loro accompagnatore o dal visitatore qualunque grazie al sistema di simboli che indica quando sono presenti elementi da toccare, rumori da notare o odori gradevoli da apprezzare e indica come si possa esplorare il parco archeologico con il proprio corpo, semplicemente camminando. 

Pur essendo un percorso creato tenendo conto delle esigenze dei disabili visivi, esso non vuole essere soltanto un percorso che separa questa categoria di visitatore in una porzione distinta del sito ma vuole invece sfruttare al massimo le qualità già esistenti nel sito archeologico e offrire a tutti un’esperienza diversa del patrimonio culturale italiano.

Questa è un’iniziativa del Centro Herculaneum in collaborazione con la Soprintendenza, l’Herculaneum Conservation Project e l’Unione Italiana dei Ciechi e degli Ipovedenti di Napoli.

Il percorso sarà inaugurato in occasione della Giornata internazionale delle Persone con Disabilità il 3 dicembre 2010.