PSI - Issue 78

Vincenzo Calvanese et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1134–1142

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1. Introduction. The Insula Meridionalis conservation site. The Insula Meridionalis, located in Regio VIII approximately 30-40 meters above the alluvial valley of the Sarno River (Fig. 1), with its extensive collection of buildings, represents a vertical stratigraphy that recounts the site's history. The Insula Meridionalis extends in a double curve for over 450 meters: the first from Villa Imperiale to the Sarno Baths, and the second from the House of Aelius Magno to the House of Giuseppe II and the Triangular Forum (see in Fig.1 the Pompeii map with the Insula Meridionalis location and a view). The restoration of the Insula Meridionalis of Pompeii started in 2023 with a duration of four years and an investment of over 32 million euros. Every conservation intervention is a direct consequence of the initial evaluation of the condition of each individual element to ensure that the most appropriate and targeted technique is implemented. The interventions that are performed in a specific order that affect each of the extant elements as well as those revealed by new archaeological excavations, have the same importance. The conservation process also considers issues caused by exposure to the elements and by the multiple events that the objects and structures have undergone in their long history. These include deformations; collapses; toppling of structures due to the seismic events of the 1st century AD; the effects of the eruption in AD 79 which included a sequence of seismic events that must have preceded and accompanied it; the eruptions of the 5th and 6th centuries AD as well as subsequent ones that must have involved structures that were completely or only partially buried; mining and agricultural activities that developed almost continuously until recent years; modern excavation activities; and the devastating effects of the bombing of Pompeii in September 1943. These are all significant signs of the long life of the architecture, of the city, and of the territory and these signs make Pompeii unique, not so much for the importance of its ancient life as a provincial town, but for its exceptional preservation under the layers of pumice and ash from the AD 79 eruption.

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Fig. 1 The Insula Meridionalis: a) the Pompeii map, b) a view

The signs of the earthquakes that occurred during the 1st century AD and the sequence of seismic events that must have immediately preceded the eruption are clearly visible in the structures, thanks to their preservation first by the rain of ash, pumice, and other volcanic material and then by the series of waves of pyroclastic flows that buried and sealed the city.Work undertaken by the two Curatores restituende Campaniae appointed by Emperor Titus to immediately coordinate aid to the population hit by the tragedy of the eruption and which resulted in a year-long spoliation of the valuable materials from the city, are perhaps visible in some traces of ancient building activity and in the piles of marble chips found in the excavations currently underway as part of the large construction site for consolidating the Insula Meridionalis , reference by P. Mighetto (2024 ). Only a few decades after the eruption, however, the vegetation recovered and brought the soil back to life, transforming it into a very fertile plateau where the prospect of farming at first attracted temporary settlements and then, by the late antique period, permanent