Conservation Issues of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Conservation Issues Of Pompeii And Herculaneum

Pompeii and Herculaneum were once thriving towns in the Bay of Naples. Though both cities have rich histories influenced by Greeks, Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites and finally the Romans, they are most renowned for their destruction: both were buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For over 1,500 years, these cities were left in remarkable states of preservation underneath volcanic ash, mud and rubble. The eruption completely obliterated the towns but ironically was the cause of their longevity and survival over the centuries.

However, for both cities, excavation has brought with it deterioration, as both natural forces and human activity (whether accidental or deliberate) have played their part in the slow disintegration of the sites. Problems range from paintings being exposed to light and buildings being worn away by weathering, erosion and water damage to inappropriate excavation and reconstruction methods to outright theft and vandalism. As stated by Henri de Saint-Blanquat:

The city's second existence began with its gradual rediscovery in the 18th century. But just when Pompeii was being rediscovered, it began to die its second death. Not only because the early excavations, carried out over two hundred years ago and again in the 19th century, often turned out to be more of a massacre — what fun to carry off statues and fling around inscribed bronze plaques! — but also because all the remains preserved by the catastrophic explosion, were now exposed to the extremes of the weather, to vegetation and to man... Pompeii suffers from pollution, the worst forms of damage are of human origin.

—Henri de Saint-Blanquat, Science et Avenir

The ancient city was included in the 1996 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund, and again in 1998 and in 2000. In 1996 the organization claimed that Pompeii "desperately need repair" and called for the drafting of a general plan of restoration and interpretation.

Read more about Conservation Issues Of Pompeii And Herculaneum:  House of The Gladiators Collapse, Conservation Projects

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