Access and Conservation at Pompeii: Strategies for Sustainable Co-existence

Abstract

ABSTRACT The extraordinary surviving paintings and floor surfaces at Pompeii are subjected daily to environmental degradation and anthropic pressure. In 2017, the ancient city was visited by 3,400,000 tourists – almost 1,000,000 more than a mere 5 years earlier. This figure looks set to increase, as a result of the revival that the site has undergone in recent years, thanks to generous funding from the European Union and the work of the Great Pompeii Project, which has enabled the reopening of a large number of domestic properties and indeed entire urban quarters which had been closed for decades. However, the increase in site usage necessitates more attention to be paid to conservation. Preventive conservation and planned maintenance, overseen by the Great Pompeii Project, represent the first response. It is conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of archaeologists, architects, conservators and specialists who are present on the site every day, responsible for the management of emergencies, and policy planning through organisation, study, application and evaluation of the consequences. Due to increased tourist numbers, the monitoring team covers every single accessible building, to study the dynamics of visitor flow, and to identify possible interventions to mitigate the effects of anthropic pressure.