ABSTRACT
The project ‘Restoring Underwater’, launched and conducted by ISCR, is aimed at the study and the experimentation of instruments, materials, methods, and techniques for the in situ restoration, conservation, and display of cultural heritage, in accordance with the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, Unesco (Paris, 2 November 2001). The project commenced in 2001 with the restoration of the vivaria of the Roman villa of Torre Astura (Nettuno-Rome). Still well preserved (150 × 120 m) and divided into geometric sectors, the ruins of the fi sh farm lie in the sea rising up from a depth of about 2 m in front of the archaeological structures of the villa. Since 2003 the main subject of research has been the submerged archaeological site of Baiae (Naples), the famous seaside town much prized in antiquity for its temperate climate, beautiful setting, and the properties of its mineral waters which have been exploited since the second century bc. It was the most popular resort of Roman Aristocracy and the Imperial Family up to the end of the third century ad, when the bradyseisme caused the beginning of the submersion of the city. Now the remains of the city lie underwater along up to a distance of 400-500 m far from the modern shoreline. Here, over the years, the restoration of sectors of several buildings has been carried out: the Villa con ingresso a Protiro, the Villa dei Pisoni (Figure 1) (Petriaggi and Mancinelli, 2004; Petriaggi, 2005), a sector of the so called Via Herculanea and the Building with porticoed courtyard near Portus Iulius (Figures 2 and 3) (Petriaggi and Davidde, 2005; 2007; 2008). In 2007, 2009, and 2010 three new targets have been added to the research programme: nine cast iron cannons discovered off the coast of Marettimo Island (Trapani) (Bartuli et al., 2008), the roman wreck carrying a load of sarcophagi off the coast of San Pietro in Bevagna (Taranto) (Petriaggi and Davidde, 2010), and the traditional fi shing boat recently discovered off the coast of Martana Island (Bolsena Lake, Viterbo).
