summary master plan 2006...master plan 2006 summary a project of the superintendancy of archaeology...

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6 SummaryA Project of the Superintendancyof Archaeology of Pompei,coordinated by the Restoring AncientStabiae Foundation, to createone of the largest archaeologicalparks in modern Europeon the site of the ancientRoman Villas of Stabiae

Supported and monitoredby Italian and U.S. governmentsas an innovative pilot projectin the collaborativeinternational managementof Italian cultural heritage,and a project key to culturaland economic revivalin Southern Italy

The Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundationis an Italian non-profit cultural foundation,with international board representation from:

The Archaeological Superintendancy of PompeiiSchool of Architecture of the University of MarylandThe Committee of Stabiae Reborn

Stabiae Master Plan COPERTINA ING 28-06-2006 9:49 Pagina 3

Pompeii, Herculaneum, Boscoreale,and the new Archaeological Park of Stabiae

The site of ancient Stabiae is the largest con-centration of excellently preserved, enor-mous, elite seaside villas in the entire Romanworld.Ancient Roman Stabiae (modern Castellam-mare di Stabia) is very different from nearbyPompeii or Herculaneum. It was buried in thesame cataclysmic eruption of A.D. 79 and likethose sites, is also gorgeously preserved bythe ash and cinder. But those sites were smallbustling provincial port towns.Stabiae on the other hand was not a town atall (with the exception of a village at one end)but rather a series of enormous, elite sea-view villas built directly next to one anotheralong the edge of a sea-cliff for at least 1.8km. Some were up to 12,000-14,000 sq. m. (c.140,000 sq. ft.). In the summer months of thefirst centuries B.C. and A.D. the Roman capi-tal virtually moved to the great villas of theBay of Naples. Sulla, Hortensius, Lucullus,Caesar. Caesar’s father-in-law Calpurnius, allhad villas in the Bay of Naples area. Cicero,far from the richest of senators, had three. Afriend of Cicero, Marcus Marius, owned oneof the villas of Stabiae (as yet unidentified).Augustus may have built twelve on Capri andanother at Sorrento. The reclusive Tiberiusliterally moved the seat of government to hisvilla on Capri. The great villas of the Bay of

Naples were notjust places ofostentation andretreat. They wereplaces for this eliteto entertain andnegotiate. Some ofthe most crucialevents of the lateRepublic occurredin these villas.When the eighteenyear old Octavian(later Augustus)learned in April 44B.C. that he wasCaesar’s heir, he

came first to the Bay of Naples, not Rome, tosolidify his support.These great seaside display villas were newphenomena in world architecture in the firstcentury B.C. They featured numerous diningrooms with calculated panoramic views ofsea and mountains, private heated baths,art collections and libraries, coolingfountains and gardens, huge co-lonnaded courtyards as largeas football fields built forno other purpose otherthan to have a place tostroll in after dinner…and hundreds of me-ters of brilliant fre-scos, often imitatingfamous works of Gre-ek art. These “super”villas were stage setsfor their elite owners,environments wherethey could entertainguests while surroundedwith the aura of a living ina “Golden Age.”Not only did many of the mostimportant events leading to thecreation of the Roman Empire occur inthese villas, but also some of the most impor-tant features of Imperial art and architecturewere generated here. Hardly ever was therean architecture so powerfully oriented to itsenvironment. And the only place in the Bayof Naples, or in fact in the whole ancientworld, where villas like these are well preser-ved in their total context is Stabiae. Onlyhere, where the site is still largely free ofmodern buildings, can one excavate severalentire complexes, and only here do well pre-served villas preserve the view of the Bayfrom the villas. Only here can one stand in afrescoed ancient Roman seaview triclinium(dining room), and feel the cooling breezesand the view fields and mountains of theSorrento peninsula behind, just as one couldtwo thousand years before.

Recovering the Total Villa Environmentof the Roman Elite

ISCHIA MISENUM

< TO SORRENTO

BAIAE

MODERN CASTELLAMMARE

NAPLESHERCULANEUM

Stabiae Master Plan INGLESE 28-06-2006 9:38 Pagina 2

A cultural panoramaof Roman antiquity

Since the inception of the Restoring AncientStabiae project, archaeology has been intimate-ly integrated with architectural design and localurbanism.

The site is very difficult to reach today, butwith one simple connection (a funicu-

lar to the local commuter rail sta-tion) it could be reached by

tourists from Pompei in onlyten minutes. The site could

function as a major ur-ban park even when thevillas are closed, andobviously a major parkhere could be the keyto the economic andcultural revival of theentire region. The sitehas been a protected

archaeological area sin-ce 1957 and is still largely

unencumbered with mod-ern buildings.

The global budget for the fullproperty acquisition, excavation,

conservation and construction on thearchaeological park is tentatively estimated

at c. €140 million, mostly to be funded by theEuropean Community.A project of this scale, which would probably bethe largest archaeological project in modernEurope, requires rethinking how modern inter-national archaeology is done. The RAS projectwas created at the invitation of the Super-intendancy of Archaeology of Pompei in 1998and presented a Master Plan to the Super-intendancy in 2001.The Foundation is now (since Feb 2001) aninnovative non-profit cultural foundation inItaly with international board representationdirectly from the Superintendancy, from localsupporters in Castellammare di Stabia andfrom the School of Architecture of theUniversity of Maryland. The Foundation hasbeen characterized by Pietro Giovanni Guzzo,

Superintendent of Pompei,as an experiment in the sha-ring the management of amajor archaeological sitewith an international enti-ty, with the intent that thismight become the modelfor the future develop-ment of European archa-

eology. The RAS Foundationis in effect not a “foreign”project in Italy, but a non-

profit cultural foundation inItaly with the ability to receiveand spend both state and pri-vate funds. It is now alsoincorporated in the USA in

Washington D.C. and the abi-lity to manage private andinstitutional funds fromthe US and Italy are key to

making it a more flexible armof the Italian Superintendancy of Archaeology.A major archaeological park at the great villasof Stabiae, working together with the othersites of the area would create cultural panora-ma of ancient Rome: town (Pompeii andHerculaneum), farm (Boscoreale) and elite villa(Stabiae).The project foreseesextensive new exca-vation on at leastthree villas and partof a small town site,major experimenta-tion with roofingand conservation,an-on-site museumof villa culture, andassociated urbanisticprojects includingcreating access tothe site by commu-ter train from Pom-pei in ten minutes.

Changing International Archaeology:A New Type of Foundation, and a Park Integrated with Ancient Pompeii and Modern Castellammare di Stabia

VILLAS OF ANCIENT STABIAE

VESUVIUS

BOSCOREALE

POMPEII

APPENNINES


Eruption and Excavation

Stabiae was buried in the same cataclysmiceruption that buried Pompeii and Hercula-neum on the 24th of August, A.D. 79. Pliny theElder died on the beach at Stabiae at the villaof his friend Pomponianus when the sixth andlast fiery pyroclastic surge swept across theBay in the morning of August 25th.The site was buried under about 3.5 metersof loose volcanic cinder and ash, excellentlypreserving the buildings.The first excavations at Stabiae (1749-82)stand at the very beginning of modern ar-chaeology, along with those at Pompeii andHerculaneum.Under Charles III Bourbon of Naples extensi-ve areas of several villas and a small townwere dug by means of low tunnels which

followed the walls in order to find and remo-ve sections of frescoes. Once a plan wasdrawn, the site was backfilled and its loca-tion completely forgotten until 1950. In that year the principal of the local highschool discovered the site and reopenedexcavations with volunteers (included hisjanitor and an unemployed mechanic).Only a small part of what was found in theeighteenth century (green in the plan below)was has been re-excavated and is currentlyopen to view (red in the plan below). Otherhuge areas lie totally unexplored. The expo-sed parts of the site are currently visitable bythe public. Major new excavations are plan-ned to recover at least two or three of theenormous complete villa complexes.

Excavations: Twice-Told Tales


Twice told tales

The site of Stabiae is a protected archaeological park of some 80 h. It consists of several large villas built side byside along the edge of a 50m. high cliff, once overlooking the shore, and now the modern town of Castellammaredi Stabia. Only three of the villas are now partly visible and visitable (in two locations, the Villa San Marco and theVilla Arianna).There is also a neighboring town site (perhaps the town destroyed by Sulla in 89 B.C. during theSocial War), and several “villae rusticae” in the area outside the park.

Villa Arianna

Villa del Pastore

Villa San Marco

AncientCity


Villas as EntertainmentComplexes and PoliticalMeeting Places for the Elite

The main period of the great villas ofStabiae was very brief: all were builtbetween 89 B.C., when the small

town of Stabiae was destroyedduring the Social War bylegate general Lucius Corn-elius Sulla, and the eruption

of A.D. 79.These were the tumultuous

decades when the later RomanRepublic was being transformedinto the Roman Empire. During

this period the site of Stabiae wasrebuilt as a continuous string ofvillas-a virtual resort-on the cliffedge overlooking the sea. The villasof the Bay of Naples were complexand pivotal phenomena of Romanculture. Many social classes surgedthrough them under the control of

their pat-rons and hosts,and the patronsused the talentsof many diff-erent types ofpeople to createremarkable stagesets for their act-ivities.The great villa own-ers usually had se-veral, and moved bet-ween them as nationalbusiness required.Cicero called his villa atFormiae “not a villa buta public lounge.”In the early first cen-tury A.D. another rush

The concept of park

Malibu, Getty Museum, reconstruction of the Villa of the Papyri


The roman culture of power and luxury

of great villas was builtaround the Bay of Naplesby the “nouveau riches”

who made huge fortu-nes under the newregime of Augustus.The Stabian villas rep-resent the grandeurof the original elitevillas, which are cha-racterized not only bytheir much greatersize, but also bytheir powerful orient-ation to the land-scape.At Stabiae, and onlyat Stabiae, are thesevillas so well preser-ved - thanks to Ves-uvius - that one can

stand in frescoedtriclinium andenjoy sea views,

mountain views,and cold sum-

mer breezes just as two thousand years ago.Only Stabiae offers the view from well-pre-served Roman seaside villas.With full excavations and didactic displays,the archaeological park at Stabiae will bec-ome the definitive place to study the pheno-menon of the elite Roman villa in its totalcontext.

Stabiae, Villa San Marco


At present, only two small sections of theenormous site is re-excavated and open tothe public, the so-called Villa San Marco, andthe Villa Arianna.The villas were very different from one ano-ther, and had many zones, sometimes combi-ning agricultural and work areas with luxury.With full excavations, it will be possible torecover the entire machinery of these hugecomplexes, including the relation to the seain front and the agricultural territory behind.The villas were usually occupied only a fewweeks a year and owners moved their reti-nues from one to another.The first excavation plans were done in theeighteenth century by military engineerKarl Weber under extremely difficult condi-tions: tunneled excavations followed wallsand plans were drawn piecemeal. They arenonetheless remarkably accurate. The townsite is to the left and part of the villa SanMarco to the right. The plans were publi-shed only in 1886.

The “Villa San Marco”and the Ancient Town Site

The plan shows:1 The town site of Stabiae (now buried)2 The street leading to the Villa San Marco3 The entrance peristyle and atrium

of the Villa San Marco4 The atrium5 The thermal bath6 The lower peristyle and nymphaeum-fountain7 The upper peristyle (only partly excavated)

The sea-edge cliff and shore were to the lower right.

The Great Sea-View Villas of Ancient Stabiae

1

23

4 5

7

6


Villa San Marco


The Stabiae villas were among the largest inthe Roman world, up to some 14,000 sq.meters, including garden areas. In addition toa traditional atrium and service rooms of atypical town mansion (domus), they hadnumerous dining and sitting rooms with seaand mountain views, frescoes often imitatingfamous Greek paintings, private bath comple-xes, fountain courts with formal gardens andart collections and “air conditioned” summercorridors (underground porticoes with coolingfountains called “cryptoporticus”). Pliny theYounger suggested that the huge courtyardgardens were built mainly as places to strolland digest one’s meal while conversing afterdinner (often with a hired philosopher). The fre-scoes of the Villa Arianna are particularly highin quality and exhibit a variety of architectural,dramatic and lyrical/classicizing styles.

The Villa “Arianna”(of “Ariadne”)

The Great Sea-View Villas of Ancient Stabiae

1 stables and farm courts;2 entrance peristyle3 main atrium

4 sea wiew dining rooms and cubicula;5 garden triclinium (dining room);6 great peristyle courtyard

(as yet unexcavated).

1

2

43

5

6

The villa Arianna is an immense complex built in several phases:


Villa Arianna


The art of Ancient Stabiae

1


1. Villa Arianna, Flora, one of fourfigures from a presumed woma-n’s apartment, in a very unique“lyrical” floating style

2. Villa Arianna, room 9, tapestrystyle, detail with bird

3. Villa san Marco, putto4. Villa Arianna, room with early

second style fresco, c. 80 B.C.5. Villa San Marco, Sacro-Idyllic

landscape6. Villa Arianna, two portraits

A “museum” of Hellenistic-Roman art

The decorative art of the Stabiae villas inclu-des some of the finest of Roman frescowork, and a wide variety of other media.The frescoes represent a wide variety styles:some in a “Baroque” Hellenistic style, proba-bly imitating famous paintings of Greekmasters; others in a unique, lyrical, classici-

zing style; others featuring vivid portraits,architectural vistas or dreamy sacred fantasylandscapes.The Egyptianizing motifs on the obsidian cupsreflect a contemporary fascination with Egyptafter the defeat of Anthony and Cleopatra byAugustus.

2

2

6

5

3 4


1. Villa del Pastore, (Good Shepherd) statuetteof the “Good Shepherd” from the garden

2. Villa Petraro, stucco from the unfinished bath,Narcissus

3. Villa San Marco, ceiling fresco, upper peristylecourtyard, planisphere

4. Villa San Marco, obsidian inlay cup, withEgyptianizing motifs

5. and 6. Villa Arianna, “Pylades” (right) and“Hippolytus” (left) - Greek heroes from themain triclinium, depicting scenes from classicaltragedies in a dramatic Hellenistic “Baroque”style, possibly copies of famous Greek paintings

1

2

3

4

The art of Ancient Stabiae


5 6

A “museum” of Hellenistic-Roman art


A contemplative visit to Stabiae

A visit to the future archaeological park atStabiae will be entirely different from the visitto the townsites of Pompeii and Herculaneum.Pompeii and Herculaneum represent small,bustling provincial port towns, crowded withstreets, baths, markets, a forum, temples, tow-nhouses and shops...and some 2.5 millionmodern visitors a year.Stabiae, on the other hand, was a Roman“Riviera,” a series of enormous villas owned bythe social elite not just of Campania, but fromRome itself, the preserve exclusively of thosewho had their hands on the reins of power.The social machinery of these villas was veryelaborate and fascinating, and very differentfrom the mansions of any other period inhistory. Every morning throngs of clients filledthe atrium and the street outside, in afterno-ons a hierarchy of staff, slave and free, guidedmore privileged guests deeper inside to muchprized invitations to use the thermal spa ordine lavishly in one of many dining rooms. Thewomen moved about freely in the house andattended dinner parties with the men, and themore ambitious were often acute and valuedpolitical advisors. Even with 150,000 visitors ayear, the archaeological park of Stabiae willremain a quiet, breezy cliff-edge promenadewith a breathtaking panorama of the bay ofNaples, a place for a contemplative visit, allo-wing visitors to become fully immersed in theambience of the villas of the powerful Romansocial elite.


Roman Aristocratic Life in Context


The Master Plan calls for thecreation of a pedestrian prome-nade along the edge of the cliffconnecting the various villaexcavation sites, giving a conti-nuous panorama of the Bay ofNaples. The park should be rin-ged by trees to allow it to bevisible from Pompei. The mainnode would be the site at theVilla Arianna where a funicularcould connect the Circumvesu-viana railroad station with the

Principal featuresof the Archaeological Park


site, so that visitors could leavethe front gates at Pompei andbe at Stabiae in ten minutes. Thesite offers opportunities for amajor museum of Roman villaculture, and the park could fun-ction as a city park and summerevening concert venue evenwhen the villas are closed.

Recovering the totalenvironment of the Roman elite


Principal featuresof the Archaeological Park

Cliff Cliff-edge villas Services and museum

SIX ZONES OF


Recovering the totalenvironment of the Roman elite

ES OF PLANNINGAgricultural fields Perimeter pines zone behind


The Archaeological Park will not exist in isolationfrom the modern Vesuvian cities, but in fact it willbe the critical link in a series of urban nodes andregional developments which could reshape andrevitalize the entire area; the park would be the“jewel in the crown” of Castellammare, the key tothe other developments, many of which arealready in development:• the waterfront hotels, yacht harbor and restaurants;• urban commuter rails and infill projects;• a linked series of urban parks and greenbelt; develop-

ment of museums and markets of local culture;• access to hiking and “agri-tourism” in the mountains

of the Amalfi- Sorrento peninsula;• and development of Castellammare’s traditional

twenty-eight thermal springs and spas.

The award-winning railroad station urban-infill project

A study of the recuperation of the area of the out-of-use state railroad station developed by students and facul-ty of the University of Maryland, January, 2002. The project connects the residential zone behind the tracks tothe seaside quay. The project was awarded a prize in 2004 by the prestigious Congress for the New Urbanism inthe USA.

The Archaeological Parkin the modern urban fabric

International yacht harbor

Railroad stationurban infill

Piazza D’Orsi funicula

Archaeological park


Archaeology as the keyto cultural and economic revitalization

Since 2000 the faculty and students of theSchool of Architecture of the University ofMaryland have done a continuing series ofdesignconcept studies in areas outside thepark. In 2005 they coordinated four Americanand four Italian architecture schools whodeveloped proposals to improve access to allthe major archaeological sites in the region:Pompei, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae.These concept projects are influencing thedevelopment of Castellammare.

The “Piazza D’Orsi” Multi-use Project and CommuterRail/Funicular Access

An advanced concept study for the multi-use piazza “Libero D’Orsi,” commissioned by the comune ofCastellammare from the faculty and students of the University of Maryland, December, 2002. The project connectsthe point of arrival of the autostrada, the main road to Nocera, and the historic center of Castellammare to theCircumvesuviana commuter rail with the archeological park.

tationll

funicularHistoric Castellammare

Terme nuove public park


The Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation isstructured to organize many activities in addi-tion to the development of the park itself. The four-year tour of the exhibit “In Stabiano”is an historic international cultural exchange: itis the first long-term loan of Italian culturalproperties under an Italian-U.S. Memorandumof Understanding of 2002 which allows thelong term loan of cultural properties to U.S.institutions which participate in the excavationand maintenance of Italian sites. Normally objects do not leave Italy for morethan twelve months. The intention of thememorandum is to reduce legal or illegal

export of Italian treasures by allowing parti-cipating U.S. institutions to borrow objectsfrom the sites they are working on for longterm loan for study or exhibition. On Jan. 19, 2006 the Cultural PropertiesAdvisory Committee of the U.S. Departmentof State renewed the MOU for five moreyears and uniquely cited the RAS Foun-dation’s tour as a major success of theagreement. “The United States is pleasedthat, pursuant to the MOU, Italy now permitsinternational loans of objects of antiquity forup to four years. Since 2004, the highly suc-cessful In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient

An historic loan of cultural patrimony

Projects since 2001


“In Stabiano” US Tour

Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite has beenon a tour to nine American museums, whichwill end in 2008.” A specific catalogue hasbeen produced for the exhibition. The tour isaccompanied by the video done in collabora-tion with Capware: “The last night of Sta-biae,” a virtual reconstruction of Villa SanMarco and the eruption that buried the areasof Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae.Almost three million visitors saw the exhibitin Washington D.C., and subsequent ope-nings have broken local records for atten-dance. Roman frescoes rarely travel to theU.S. and few U.S. museums have collections.


National Museum of Natural History,Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.April 26-October 24, 2005

Arkansas Arts Center,Little Rock, ArkansasFebruary 11 - Held over until May 15, 2005

Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NevadaOctober 23, 2005- January 22, 2006

San Diego Museum of Art,San Diego, California,February 18- May 14, 2006

Michael C. Carlos Museum of ArtEmory University, Atlanta, GeorgiaAugust 5 - October 22, 2006

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OhioNovember 20 - February 12, 2007

Elvehjem Museum of Art Universityof Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinMarch 17 - June 3, 2007

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TexasJuly 9 - October 11, 2007

The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens,Jacksonville, FloridaNovember 7, 2008 - February 3, 2008

Projects since 2001


“In Stabiano” US Tour

Special Events

Visited Museums


The Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundationoffers the field of archaeology the extra-ordinary opportunity to convene and ex-change between different cultures. Withthis spirit, RAS is organizing another impor-tant exhibition, Otium ludens, a tour whichwill reach the audience of the most impor-tant museums in the world. Equally, this willserve to establish contacts within the cultu-ral and academic environment of each tou-ched country, involving it in RAS’s missionto realize the Archaeological Park at AncientStabiae. Otium ludens is an exhibition ofhuge proportions and importance, including

almost 300 pieces, most never shown to thepublic, that are among the most beautifulfound in the seaside villas of Stabiae of thefirst century A.D. The curatorial project isheaded by Prof. Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, theSuperintendent of Archaeology of Pompei.The first venue of the world tour will be inthe splendid setting of Hermitage Museumin St. Petersburg, Russia, where the exhibi-tion will be on show starting on May 18,2007. This event is particularly important forRussia, as it had never before hosted anexhibition devoted to the sites that wereburied by Mt. Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.

Projects since 2001


Otium ludens tour

The exhibition will then travel to China,Japan and Australia. The exhibition design isdone by architects Salvatore Abbate andAngela Vinci. A specific catalogue will beproduced for the exhibition and will transla-ted in the language of each country visitedby the exhibition.Some of the restoration work for the fresco-es shown in the exhibition have been madepossible by RAS’s unique initiative, “Adopt aFresco.” The objective of this pilot programis to directly involve individuals and corpora-tions interested in becoming sponsors of theart at Stabiae, by “adopting” a fresco with a

donation that will enable its restoration. Apreview of Otium ludens tour will be presen-ted on July 1, 2006 at the Villa RufoloMuseum in Ravello, as part of the internatio-nal music and arts events of Ravello Festival.The preview will feature a selection of ninefrescoes from Villa Arianna, Villa San Marco,and the Secondo Complesso.The tour will be accompanied by the videodone in collaboration with Capware: ”Thelast night of Stabiae,” a virtual reconstruc-tion of Villa San Marco and the eruption thatburied the areas of Pompeii, Herculaneumand Stabiae.

For further information regarding Otium ludens tour:Architect Angela Vinci - Project Manager – Exhibition [email protected]


In 2001 €4.5 million were awarded to theSuperintendancy of Archaeology of Pompeiunder the “RAS Master Plan 2001” for a seriesof projects aimed rapidly to improve the accessto the site. They include the first two excava-tions at the Villa San Marco, a new parking areafor the Villa Arianna, reorganization of thedrainage of the Villa Arianna Great Peristylearea, and several other conservation projects.Similar funds have come from a variety ofsources. Some €600,000 were awarded by theRegion of Campania in 2004 to promote the

Projects since 2001


The Buildings

“Bellissima Campania” events and the “InStabiano” exhibit at the Smithsonian inWashington, and €600,000 were awarded toRAS by a private banking foundation in Italy tobuild the first phase of the new visitors’ cen-ter. The visitors’ center has the unusual statusof having formal approval of being a building,made by a private foundation on a public sitebecause of the special status of the RASFoundation in its design and funding. Thisrepresents a 40% of the total costs of opera-tions to build the first phase.


The first two excavations, funded by the 2001award from the EU/ Region of Campania, havebeen planned by the RAS Foundation uponinvitation of the Superintendancy of Pompei.Excavations are to be contract excavationsmanaged by the Superintendancy, and are dueto begin in 2006. The first excavation will openthe original entrance courtyard of the Villa SanMarco (partly excavated for the first time in theeighteenth century) and will create a newentrance to the villa by creating a rampdescending to the original Roman street levelin front of the villa. The next will liberate thefragile nymphaeum-fountain in the center ofthe Villa San Marco lower peristyle courtyard.Geophisical survey (ground penetrating radarand magnetometry) in 2002 revealed that theUpper-Peristyle Courtyard of the Villa SanMarco extends to c. 113 meters.

Projects since 2001

The outline of the plan of the peristyle

Villa San Marco


The excavations underway

In the aerial photo of Villa San Marco to the left, theangle of the peristyle is evident, as discovered by thegeophysical survey work of Meg Watters in 2002.

The model of Villa San Marco shows a reconstruction of the peristyle

Meg Watters of University of Birmingham on site. Therecent archaeological trials have confirmed the pre-sence of the peristyle that she found in 2002.


The RAS Foundation is organizing educationaland training activities at all levels, from localprimary schools to advanced research in cult-ure and archaeology. One of its most ambitiousand innovative is a residential research centerfor undergraduate and graduate visitors to theBay of Naples area based on the concept of thenumerous international academies in Rome(e.g. the French or American Academies), whichhouse classicists, historians, musicians, artistsand architects. The Bay of Naples is culturallyone of the most significant areas in the historyof Europe, and still one of the least studied. Anew generation of scholars and artists is justbeginning to work in the area. It is an areawhere the flux and collision of cultures overthree millennia have provided much humandrama, much human tragedy, and inexhausti-ble artistic and cultural richness: the traces ofGreeks and Etruscans; ancient Campanians andimperial Romans; Byzantine and Saracen; the

Historic Opportunity:A New Zone for World Scholarship and Artistic Study

most progressive medieval trading republics(e.g. Amalfi); Angevin French and BourbonSpanish; the beginnings of collecting andarchaeology itself in the eighteenth century;the music and banking economic archives ofNaples; Baroque art and churches; the operaof Teatro San Carlo; Neapolitan street musicand its famous cuisine and viniculture...evenmodern fireworks are essentially Neapolitan!

Projects since 2001


The Vesuvian “Multicultural” Study Institute

The center would serve:• Advanced researchers from the institutes

in Rome doing archival research, oftenspending weeks to a semester in residence

• An Italian archaeological college grantingadvanced masters in archaeology

• International researchers who work out ofPompei

• U.S. undergraduate study tours of 20 to 30students and professors for one to threeweeks

• US university and elder hostel groups of 10to 30, for one to three weeks

• Visiting artists

• Architectural design studios, US universi-ties, 10 to 20 for one to three weeks

• Groups who bring their own directors orfaculty, or advanced researchers whoknow how to find research resources andfacilities.

The RAS Foundation has received a formaloffer of sale from the Salesian Fathers fora fully equipped beautiful residential scho-ol complex overlooking Castellammare andthe commuter rail station, with seventybedrooms with bath, dining hall, lecturetheater and offices. RAS is now organizingfunding and institutional participants.Various institutes which have written let-ters of interest in developing some type ofparticipation in this institute include theAmerican Academy in Rome, the BritishSchool in Rome, the University of NaplesFederico II, and the University of CaliforniaSan Diego.

Institutions seeking more information on possibleparticipation in the center should contact:• Notary Ferdinando Spagnuolo, Board of Trustees

of the RAS Foundation [email protected] • Prof. Thomas Noble Howe, Coordinator General,

RAS Foundation [email protected]• Architect Leonardo Varone, U.S. Executive

Coordinator for RAS Foundation [email protected]


Most of the €140 million for this historic andambitious project (70%) will come from Italian-administered EU funds for cultural projects.However, it is the Foundation’s ability to receiveand spend both private and public funds fromboth inside and outside Italy which gives theFoundation the crucial extra flexibility relative toits partner organization, the Superintendancy ofArchaeology of Pompei. The private funds main-tain the professional staff and create the pro-jects which will win the larger state funds.In 2005, RAS created a new incorporation inWashington, D.C., that received its non-profitstatus approval early in 2006. RAS has already

received substantial support from an Italianbanking foundation for the first phase of thevisitors’ center. Starting in 2006 RAS is sup-porting a number of the most essential pro-jects to initiate the large-scale archaeologi-cal work on the site.

• A Conservation Survey and urgent interven-tion: a project to survey the current state ofthe exposed frescoes, and conserve thosewhich are most in need before it is too late,leading to a conservation master plan.

• “Adopt a Fresco,” a project to do urgent conser-vation work on detached fragments in storage

Projects since 2001


RAS Priority projects 2006-2008

which will be sent in 2006-2007 on internatio-nal exhibitions at the Hermitage in St. Peter-sburg, Russia, (May 18, 2007) and possibly alsoto China and Australia.

• Interlinked databases, essential to linking toge-ther a widely dispersed international team ofprofessionals. Three databases are under deve-lopment: 1. An archaeological 3D GIS database,probably to be developed by University ofMaryland and a consortium of small U.S. liberalarts colleges lead by Southwestern University; 2.An architectural and engineering 3D database,to be developed by the University of Maryland

School of Architecture. 3. A virtual reality data-base for historical reconstruction, probably to bedeveloped by Virginia Technical Institute.

• Precision cartography(Univ. of Pennsylvania)

• General geophysical survey of the entire area onand around the site (Univ. of Birmingham, Univ.of Naples, Federico II). Most of this farmland andpark has never been explored and the full extentof the villas is still unknown. They may wellextend to the next hill, for a distance of 3-4 km.


Contact InformationThe Board of DirectorsPresidentProf. Pietro Giovanni GuzzoSuperintendent of Archaeology ofPompeiVice PresidentProf. Matthew BellUniversity of Maryland,School of [email protected] Member of the BoardNotary Ferdinando SpagnuoloCastellammare di [email protected]

Senior StaffCoordinator GeneralProf. Thomas Noble HoweSouthwestern [email protected]. Executive CoordinatorArchitect Leonardo VaroneEEK Architects, Washington, [email protected]. Development DirectorDr. Richard SeelySeely and Associates,Washington, [email protected]

OfficesRAS-ItalyPiazza Unita d’Italia, 1380053, Castellammare di StabiaItalyPh: +39.081.8700274(Marianna Cirillo)RAS-USA888 16th St. NW, Suite 800Washington, D.C. 20006001.202.349.9873(Cristina Marcantonio)

Websitewww.stabiae.org

Activity realized by the RASFoundation, with the contribution ofACRI in the frame of the projectDevelopment south Campania forthe Vesuvian Archaeological District.


NEQUE TAMEN DUBITO QUIN TU IN ILLO CUBICULO TUO,EX QUO TIBI STABIANUM PERFORASTI ET PATEFACISTI

MISENUM, PER EOS DIES MATUTINA TEMPORALECTIUNCULIS CONSUMPSERIS,

CUM ILLI INTEREA, QUI TE ISTIC RELIQUERANT,SPECTARENT COMMUNES MIMOS SEMISOMNI.

Tulli Ciceronis Epistulae ad Familiares VII.I.I. S. D. M.Mario,Romae A.V.C. 699

And yet I doubt not that you, while sitting in your cubiculum(chamber), from which you have opened upa view of theStabian stage, have passed the morning hours glancing

at the scenery, while those [in Rome]who have leftyou there, can hardly stay awake while

gazing at the farceson the public stage(trans. TNH)Cicero, Letters to Friends 7.1.1.

To Marcus Marius, From Rome, 55 B.C.

Stabiae Master Plan COPERTINA ING 28-06-2006 9:49 Pagina 2

summary master plan 2006...master plan 2006 summary a project of the superintendancy of archaeology...

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