Pompeii Garden Wall

[Ludovicus]

Here we go again, sadly:

 

ROME (AP) - A stretch of garden wall ringing an ancient house in Pompeii gave way Tuesday after days of torrential rain, the latest structure to collapse at the popular archaeological site. (Scroll down for photos)

 

Pompeii officials said an inspection found that a 40-foot (12-meter)-long section of wall forming part of the perimeter of a garden area near the House of the Moralist gave way in several points. They said the extreme sogginess of the soil brought down the wall in an area that hasn't been excavated near the house.

 

Italy is struggling to preserve its immense archaeological wealth for future generations.

 

A few weeks ago, Italy was embarrassed when a frescoed house, the Schola Armaturarum, where gladiators prepared for combat, was reduced to a pile of stones and dust in seconds. Less than a year ago, another building, the House of the Chaste Lovers, collapsed in Pompeii.

 

For photos and article:

 

http://www.huffingto...14.html#s194749

[Ludovicus]

In the Naples area there is at least one group organizing to move the government to take action to save Pompeii from further neglect. If you're in the area and want to get in contact with them send me a message via UNRV mail.

 

These loses to humankind's legacy in Italy must be addressed!

[Ursus]

This is a travesty. Even if (so I hear) a lot of Italians don't care about the ancient Roman legacy, it seems to me the economic benefit of a world renowned tourist attraction would prompt better care than this.

[Maladict]

This is a travesty. Even if (so I hear) a lot of Italians don't care about the ancient Roman legacy, it seems to me the economic benefit of a world renowned tourist attraction would prompt better care than this.

 

Not really. Tourists will come anyway, it doesn't really matter what you put in front of them.

Most of them will mindlessly follow the hype anywhere, and doing so destroy more than these two badly reassembled houses.

[Ludovicus]

This is a travesty. Even if (so I hear) a lot of Italians don't care about the ancient Roman legacy, it seems to me the economic benefit of a world renowned tourist attraction would prompt better care than this.

 

In my experience, those Italians I know who work at the sites run by the Cultural Ministry and many others are deeply concerned by the decay of support for the country's archaeological legacy, really a patrimony of humankind. This is their bread and butter and a source of national pride.

 

One may ask, "What's happening with the Cultural Ministry?" A better question would be "What's happening to Italy?" As the Berlusconian Era winds down, the country has gone into a spiral of crisis after crisis: political, economic, environmental, cultural, and archaeological.

 

The national park around Vesuvius is now a dumping ground for Campania's trash. In 2007, the government sank 30 garbage leaden ships of the coast of Calabria!

[GhostOfClayton]

Small update.

 

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

[Ludovicus]

Small update.

 

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

 

Thanks for this BBC link on the archaeology crisis in Italy. I gives background on the

Issue.