2022
Saturday I visited Pompei, after a long time.
Not so many things changed, but one deserves to be shared: they made an accessible path for wheelchairs!
As you can imagine, roads are well preserved, but are not suitable for wheelchairs! And also pedestrian walks are the famous raised, that will never allow a wheelchair to pass through. So a great effort was done in the city to allow disabled people to experience life as romans never did it before!
Here is my review (in Italian) of the place: https://goo.gl/maps/TYwMwq8YvwJ2
Some photos from me, and some from official website; I will share more later.
The accessible path is called "Pompei per tutti" and covers more than 3 Km of roads, a small but significative subset of the whole archeological area.
From the official website: http://www.pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?titolo=ACCESSIBILITY&idSezione=6787
This project allow everybody to access the archaeological area from the entrance of Piazza Anfiteatro and then visit the site through the main pathway, via dell’Abbondanza, accessing most main buildings.
This itinerary, created within the Grande Progetto Pompei, finally allows all visitors to experience the many areas of the city, and understand the complexity of this unique heritage site.
A team of engineers, architects and archaeologists has developed environmentally sustainable strategies that will allow visitors to safely access a variety of areas. All interventions have been envisioned and executed while respecting restoration requirements, through the employment of innovative materials and by creating structures that can be removed if needed. Operating transparently upon these criteria has been fundamental for the preservation of the site, ensuring that the general public could be aware of the rigour with which the administration operates.
The information we are hereby sharing has the aim to inform the public regarding the interventions within the project “Pompeii for all”, which will be soon completed.
As of today, the areas engaged in the project are:
1. the areas within the Regio I included between insulae 21 and 22, where a new pavement is being constructed.
2. some parts of the sidewalk along via delle Terme (Regio VI) and the insula Occidentalis.
The pavement that is being constructed is made of a hydraulic lime mixture, within which there is no cement. Between July and September 2015 13 trials have been made to test the aesthetic, chromatic and mechanical characteristics of this material. University research centres have then certified the mixture.
Where the new pavement is in direct contact with archaeological findings, the surface is built employing a glass rather than an iron net, in order to avoid endangering the evidence through oxidation reactions.
Access ramps are also being positioned to facilitate entrance to key buildings of the site throughout the whole path of “Pompeii for all”, together with interventions on the pavement where possible.
From September, moreover, a new conservation project will begin, restoring 12 fountains along the path, based on a methodological approach defined together with the Opificio delle Pietre Dure di Firenze, which has contributed through research and analysis to draft an intervention plan.
All activities that involve excavations or archaeological findings are monitored by archaeologists always present on site, coordinated by officials from both Mibact and the Superintendence of Pompeii.
You can download the official accessible path map here: http://pompeiisites.org/allegati/PIANTA_SCAVI_POMPEI_per%20tutti.pdf
