Farmhouses in the Phlegrean Fields Between Archaeology and Architectural Palimpsest. A Multi-disciplinary Approach

Abstract

The contribution aims to deepen the study of the rural architectures in Campi Flegrei, with particular reference to the territorial area of Pozzuoli. Country houses, manor houses in the countryside, agricultural and lookout towers, rural outbuildings, farms born on archaeological remains, are the components of a rich architectural heritage strewn over agricultural land of Campi Flegrei; a heritage not yet fully known and cataloged, which pours in a state of apparent abandonment and constitutes an irreproducible repertoire of building traditions, materials and local techniques of undeniable interest. The study, which uses the results of a research, started by a group of scholars of the “Federico II” and funded by Regione Campania for the biennium 2004–2006, is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach, and will address (1) the relationship with the landscape of these settlements, (2) the reuse of ancient and existing buildings highlighting the continuity of use, (3) the technical-constructive and typological aspects and more specifically the architectural and materials ones. Two illustrative case-studies will be chosen, detailed through a careful graphic and stratigraphic relief, as well as through diagnostic surveys: the first one, relative to the area of Via Campana, which consists of a farm built on Roman remains witnessed by the presence of a nymphaeum in opus reticolatum, and the second one related to a home-farm, with a more complex plant, arose ex novo in the eighteenth century for the production of wine. In both cases will be highlighted the recurring conservative critical and the mechanisms of degradation and damage, aimed to the detection of correct methods for the conservation of this ‘fragile’ heritage.