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Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 2 Stabiae Master Plan COPERTINA ING 28-06-2006 9:49 Pagina 3 Summary A Project of the Superintendancy of Archaeology of Pompei, coordinated by the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation, to create one of the largest archaeological parks in modern Europe on the site of the ancient Roman Villas of Stabiae Supported and monitored by Italian and U.S. governments as an innovative pilot project in the collaborative international management of Italian cultural heritage, and a project key to cultural and economic revival in Southern Italy Master Plan 2006 The Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation is an Italian non-profit cultural foundation, with international board representation from: The Archaeological Superintendancy of Pompeii School of Architecture of the University of Maryland The Committee of Stabiae Reborn Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 2 Pompeii, Herculaneum, Boscoreale, and the new Archaeological Park of Stabiae ISCHIA MISENUM BAIAE NAPLES HERCULANEUM < TO SORRENTO MODERN CASTELLAMMARE Recovering the Total Villa Environment of the Roman Elite The site of ancient Stabiae is the largest con- came first to the Bay of Naples, not Rome, to centration of excellently preserved, enor- solidify his support. mous, elite seaside villas in the entire Roman These great seaside display villas were new world. phenomena in world architecture in the first Ancient Roman Stabiae (modern Castellam- century B.C. They featured numerous dining mare di Stabia) is very different from nearby rooms with calculated panoramic views of Pompeii or Herculaneum. It was buried in the sea and mountains, private heated baths, same cataclysmic eruption of A.D. 79 and like art collections and libraries, cooling those sites, is also gorgeously preserved by fountains and gardens, huge co- the ash and cinder. But those sites were small lonnaded courtyards as large bustling provincial port towns. as football fields built for Stabiae on the other hand was not a town at no other purpose other all (with the exception of a village at one end) than to have a place to but rather a series of enormous, elite sea- stroll in after dinner… view villas built directly next to one another and hundreds of me- along the edge of a sea-cliff for at least 1.8 ters of brilliant fre- km. Some were up to 12,000-14,000 sq. m. (c. scos, often imitating 140,000 sq. ft.). In the summer months of the famous works of Gre- first centuries B.C. and A.D. the Roman capi- ek art. These “super tal virtually moved to the great villas of the ”villas were stage sets Bay of Naples. Sulla, Hortensius, Lucullus, for their elite owners, Caesar. Caesar’s father-in-law Calpurnius, all environments where had villas in the Bay of Naples area. Cicero, they could entertain far from the richest of senators, had three. A guests while surrounded friend of Cicero, Marcus Marius, owned one with the aura of a living in of the villas of Stabiae (as yet unidentified). a “Golden Age.” Augustus may have built twelve on Capri and Not only did many of the most another at Sorrento. The reclusive Tiberius important events leading to the literally moved the seat of government to his creation of the Roman Empire occur in villa on Capri. The great villas of the Bay of these villas, but also some of the most impor- Naples were not tant features of Imperial art and architecture just places of were generated here. Hardly ever was there ostentation and an architecture so powerfully oriented to its retreat. They were environment. And the only place in the Bay places for this elite of Naples, or in fact in the whole ancient to entertain and world, where villas like these are well preser- negotiate. Some of ved in their total context is Stabiae. Only the most crucial here, where the site is still largely free of events of the late modern buildings, can one excavate several Republic occurred entire complexes, and only here do well pre- in these villas. served villas preserve the view of the Bay When the eighteen from the villas. Only here can one stand in a year old Octavian frescoed ancient Roman seaview triclinium (later Augustus) (dining room), and feel the cooling breezes learned in April 44 and the view fields and mountains of the B.C. that he was Sorrento peninsula behind, just as one could Caesar’s heir, he two thousand years before. Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 3 A cultural panorama of Roman antiquity VESUVIUS APPENNINES BOSCOREALE POMPEII VILLAS OF ANCIENT STABIAE Changing International Archaeology: A New Type of Foundation, and a Park Integrated with Ancient Pompeii and Modern Castellammare di Stabia Since the inception of the Restoring Ancient Superintendent of Pompei, Stabiae project, archaeology has been intimate- as an experiment in the sha- ly integrated with architectural design and local ring the management of a urbanism. major archaeological site The site is very difficult to reach today, but with an international enti- with one simple connection (a funicu- ty, with the intent that this lar to the local commuter rail sta- might become the model tion) it could be reached by for the future develop- tourists from Pompei in only ment of European archa- ten minutes. The site could eology. The RAS Foundation function as a major ur- is in effect not a “foreign” ban park even when the project in Italy, but a non- villas are closed, and profit cultural foundation in obviously a major park Italy with the ability to receive here could be the key and spend both state and pri- to the economic and vate funds. It is now also cultural revival of the incorporated in the USA in entire region. The site Washington D.C. and the abi- has been a protected lity to manage private and archaeological area sin- institutional funds from ce 1957 and is still largely the US and Italy are key to unencumbered with mod- making it a more flexible arm ern buildings. of the Italian Superintendancy of Archaeology. The global budget for the full A major archaeological park at the great villas property acquisition, excavation, of Stabiae, working together with the other conservation and construction on the sites of the area would create cultural panora- archaeological park is tentatively estimated ma of ancient Rome: town (Pompeii and at c. €140 million, mostly to be funded by the Herculaneum), farm (Boscoreale) and elite villa European Community. (Stabiae). A project of this scale, which would probably be The project foresees the largest archaeological project in modern extensive new exca- Europe, requires rethinking how modern inter- vation on at least national archaeology is done. The RAS project three villas and part was created at the invitation of the Super- of a small town site, intendancy of Archaeology of Pompei in 1998 major experimenta- and presented a Master Plan to the Super- tion with roofing intendancy in 2001. and conservation, The Foundation is now (since Feb 2001) an an-on-site museum innovative non-profit cultural foundation in of villa culture, and Italy with international board representation associated urbanistic directly from the Superintendancy, from local projects including supporters in Castellammare di Stabia and creating access to from the School of Architecture of the the site by commu- University of Maryland. The Foundation has ter train from Pom- been characterized by Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, pei in ten minutes. Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 4 Eruption and Excavation Excavations: Twice-Told Tales Stabiae was buried in the same cataclysmic followed the walls in order to find and remo- eruption that buried Pompeii and Hercula- ve sections of frescoes. Once a plan was neum on the 24th of August, A.D. 79. Pliny the drawn, the site was backfilled and its loca- Elder died on the beach at Stabiae at the villa tion completely forgotten until 1950. of his friend Pomponianus when the sixth and In that year the principal of the local high last fiery pyroclastic surge swept across the school discovered the site and reopened Bay in the morning of August 25th. excavations with volunteers (included his The site was buried under about 3.5 meters janitor and an unemployed mechanic). of loose volcanic cinder and ash, excellently Only a small part of what was found in the preserving the buildings. eighteenth century (green in the plan below) The first excavations at Stabiae (1749-82) was has been re-excavated and is currently stand at the very beginning of modern ar- open to view (red in the plan below). Other chaeology, along with those at Pompeii and huge areas lie totally unexplored. The expo- Herculaneum. sed parts of the site are currently visitable by Under Charles III Bourbon of Naples extensi- the public. Major new excavations are plan- ve areas of several villas and a small town ned to recover at least two or three of the were dug by means of low tunnels which enormous complete villa complexes. Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 5 Twice told tales Ancient City Villa San Marco Villa del Pastore Villa Arianna The site of Stabiae is a protected archaeological park of some 80 h. It consists of several large villas built side by side along the edge of a 50m. high cliff, once overlooking the shore, and now the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia. Only three of the villas are now partly visible and visitable (in two locations, the Villa San Marco and the Villa Arianna).There is also a neighboring town site (perhaps the town destroyed by Sulla in 89 B.C.
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