Tesi di laurea di Domenico D'Amato

 

Site: Catania

Year: 2014

 

During the Roman Empire, the city of Catania became an important urban system through the acquisition of various public buildings, transforming the little colony into a structured city. For this reason, the city claims today one of the largest Roman archaeological heritage in Italy, for the most part not valorized and with still undervalued potentialities. Among the many cases of urban archeology, the Roman amphitheater of Catania lies at the heart of several strategic and architectural issues, as its emblematic monuments -by type and size- overlap with different historical stratigraphies. For example, the large excavation of Stesicoro Square looks like a hole in the heart of the historical center of the Baroque city. Concurrently, the amphitheater remains submerged by different historical layers, also of magmatic origin, without altimetric integration with the contemporary city. On these bases, this project aims to meet the different needs of the site, including the preservation of archaeological remains -threatened by weather and by overlapping constructions- combined with the growing demand for exhibition space, due to the quality and quantity of findings of the Greek Roman archaeological park of Catania. The targets of the project may be grouped under three broad headings: protect, re-establish and valorize. Among the basic needs there are in fact the recovery and protection of the visitable/open areas of the amphitheater. This will be possible by covering the archaeological site, restoring and consolidating the compromised parts, in order to save them from neglect. The second target is the mending of the urban area concerning the excavation with the reinstatement of the lost public space and the reconnection of the archaeological share with the contemporary city. Finally, the third aim is to popularize the site through the construction of a new museum / antiquarium directly connected to the dig site to serve as entrance to the archaeological site. The museum will tell the story of the amphitheater, while allowing the placement of numerous findings that will not have been exploited yet. Thanks to its strategic location, the intervention will become the focal point of a more complex tourist route that will link the various archaeological sites, enhancing Catania's historical heritage.