The Roman Villa Delle Grotte at Portoferraio Lorella Alderighi
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The Roman Villa delle Grotte at Portoferraio Lorella Alderighi The Roman Villa delle Grotte at Portoferraio From preservation to excavation As imposing and fascinating the structures of the Villa delle Grotte are, as complex the history of its life and of its excavations is. The villa is first mentioned in a report of the September 1901 when in the list of the monumental buildings of the Province of Livorno, Town of Portoferraio, the So- printendenza ai Monumenti e Gallerie per le province di Pisa, Lucca, Livorno e Massa-Carrara includes an “edi- fice” described as follows: “Remains of Roman Villa alle grotte. Category: ruins of regional importance. Owner- ship, conservation and use: the ruins of the Villa Roma- na are located in a plot owned by the Bigeschi family. Building features: on both sides of the road going from Portoferraio to Portolongone, on a hill protruding above the Gulf of Portoferraio are long sections of a Roman wall in opus incertum and opus reticolatum, of vaulted cellars, lengths of a brick wall, remains of mosaic floors and other traces of factories and marble coating. State of preservation: The ruins stretch along a wide portion of land, interrupted in several points, yet often surfac- 1 1 Scavi del grande cunicolo della piscina con gli operai Bellini Menotti, Damiani Giulio e Martini Delfo. 46 MILLIARIUM La villa romana delle Grotte ing so as to provide enough data to reconstruct the for the views of the port of Portoferraio of the mid-18th topography of part of the building. News: These ruins century. are important as they stretch from the hilltop to the sea A few statues and antefixes were found during the ex- and represent the most interesting memory of the Ro- cavations of 1960, which would last, with some inter- man past on the whole Isle of Elba. It must have been ruptions, until 1972. In addition to clay plates, stuccoes, the Villa of some lavish, ‘well-equipped’ Roman family painted plasters, marble intarsia and mosaic floors, bur- (…). It seems that this building might be of the early ied during the artificial levelling, the excavation would vulgar age. Works of art: none”1. unearth only a finger belonging to a statue, which must Actually, it was impossible to find any work of art or, at have been part of the monumental decoration of the least, to find any visible one; in fact, besides a system- villa, probably visible for those approaching the island atic spoliation after the abandon of the Villa, maybe from the sea. occurred as early as the 1st century AD, the use of the But only in 1911 the Ministero della pubblica Istruzione upper platform to set the artillery for the siege of 1799 issued a notification for Mr Pasquale Mattini, son of the by the Neapolitans against the French, who had con- late Pietro, domiciled in Portoferraio, “that the remains quered Portoferraio, and in 1801 by the French them- of the Roman villa alle Grotte in the Town of Portofer- selves against the rebel town, had caused the razing of raio, owned by the above mentioned sir, are of great all the standing structures, as recorded in the Ciummei interest and therefore must comply with the dispositions manuscript of 1786-1791, which shows the Cape delle of articles 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 29, 31, 34 and 37 of the law Grotte topped with the bulk of the villa with its impos- 20th June 1909, no. 364”. The notification was written ing substructures, remains of two floors and many other by the municipal envoy Umberto Miliani on 29th March ruins scattered between the mountain and the sea be- 1911. hind it. The ruins of the Roman villa are a sort of frame Although being recognised of Roman period, the ruins Article in english Artikle auf deutsch ubersetzt www.milliarium.it/elba/art6.html MILLIARIUM 47 La villa romana delle Grotte 2 still impress scholars, as they did in the previous centu- remains of an old building, ruins belonging to a huge ries. construction. Is it of Roman origin, as assumed by some Engineer Padova in an article entitled “History and art people, because of its structure or of its being cloaked of the Isle of Elba”, appeared in the paper “Il Telegrafo” in bricks recalling the Roman opus reticolatum? Or is of Livorno on 4th December 1913, writes: “... Still on it more modern, with Arabic influence, as it might ap- the shores of the gulf, but on the opposite side of the pear from the typical shape of certain vaults of the now town, facing the Tyrrhenian Sea and the mainland, on underground rooms? It could be worth carrying out ex- the pleasant hill of the Grotte, visitors could see the cavations, which might reveal something interesting”2. But the island would pass through hard times, so the Villa delle Grotte was talked about again only during the fascist period, when the country prepared to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Augustus’s birth (63 BC), and Mussolini was celebrated as a new dux, distorting both the iconographic interpretations and the historical facts. And the Isle of Elba wants to take part in it. The corre- spondence of the year 1934 between the Soprintenden- za alle antichità di Etruria di Firenze and the Town of Portoferraio reports an appropriation of 7,000 Lire, later 10,000, by the Podestà Epaminonda Pasella “in order to have archaeological researches and survey carried out in the site of “Le Grotte, where ruins of a Roman villa are” and where “survey works have already been started”. Also 3 4 48 MILLIARIUM La villa romana delle Grotte 5 the Prefect of Livorno Letta visited the site, praising the works on Elba, of some remains of an ancient Roman initiative of the Town. But, despite of the approval of building (...), whose ruins, well visible, stretch over a vast the Superintendent Antonio Minto, the authorization area, in one of the most pleasant places in the Gulf of by the Ministero dell’Educazione Nazionale Antichità e Portoferraio, at about 4 km from the village”; he also Belle arti of Rome and the written permission of the two asks to be able to consider a possible resumption of owners of the area, Avvocato (Lawyer) Mario Colavicchi the excavations “in view of the unemployment in this and Antonio Riu3, the excavation wouldn’t be carried town after the closure of the local blast furnaces and out because of dissension between the Podestà and the the resulting poverty of most inhabitants” and “in view then honorary inspector Leone Damiani. of the fact that the resumption of excavations in the Only in 1953 the discussion about excavations at the above mentioned place would certainly unearth works Grotte was resumed, when honorary inspector for an- of historical interest, also important for the increasing tiquities Giovanni Bigeschi della Serra writes to the Su- tourism industry on Elba”. perintendent Giacomo Caputo to inform the Soprint- Despite the approval of the Soprintendenza, funds are endenza “of the presence, among the most interesting not enough. So the Ente Valorizzazione Elba (‘Institu- tion for promoting Elba’) hopes for an intervention by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno, which, through a telegram 2 Manoscritto Ciummei (1786-91) 6 Il territorio delle Grotte coltivato sent by Minister Togni on 23rd December 1959, an- 3 Provvedimento di vincolo della a grano e senza alberi, 8 Ottobre nounces a 20 million lire funding of the excavation and villa romana 1960 restoration works at the Roman Villa delle Grotte. At the 4 Foto all’inizio degli scavi, 7 Visita agli scavi, in primo piano same time, an anonym patron and benefactor (even if 8 Ottobre 1960 le sostruzioni nord, 11 Settembre his name and address are recorded in the Town Archive), 5 Vista delle Grotte su Portoferraio, 1970 anni ‘60 who, in the name of his love for the island, offered three 6 7 MILLIARIUM 49 La villa romana delle Grotte 8 million lire for archaeological excavations, money that was initially refused because the big loan of twenty mil- lion lire from the Cassa del Mezzogiorno drew near, but later well accepted, as it was announced that the money couldn’t be granted because the ground of the excava- tions belonged to a private owner. In July 1960, the excavation to be carried out and decides to start from patron deposits one million lire on the bank account of the works from the highest point of the hill, to the west the Soprintendenza and promises to pay other two mil- and on the southern scope; three skilled workers are re- lion by the first term of 1961. Which will be done. cruited: Bellini Menotti, Damiani Giulio, Martini Delfo. The excavation area is free from crops, since the wheat has already been harvested; one of the spaces of the Gli scavi di Giorgio Monaco (1960-1972). delle Grotte is used as stable and Monaco will use it as a store for archaeological finds. In July 1960 Giorgio Monaco studies the features of the The excavation works finally start on 18th July at 6 am; the first campaign will last until the 4th of October. 10 50 MILLIARIUM La villa romana delle Grotte 11 8 Giorgio Monaco sul grande 10 Pianta della villa in corso di 11 Veduta dalla cisterna superiore. cunicolo centrale della piscina, scavo e della cisterna superiore, Sullo sfondo Portoferraio, 3 Gennaio 1961. 1961 11 Settembre 1970 9 9 La piscina, 16 Agosto 1987 Giorgio Monaco is to edit detailed reports of the exca- whole north perimeter of the piscina, 23 x 15 m, is vation works.