A project to restore and enhance the Oceane Tomb in Viterbo, on the Strada Bagni, has been launched. The tomb is part of the extensive necropolis of Poggio Giudio and is, to date, the only evidence of a painted Roman-era burial chamber so far known in the area. The Oceane Tomb consists of a small burial chamber carved entirely out of tuff. On the eastern wall the most significant decorative element is preserved: the inscription “Oceane,” painted in red, from which it derives its name. The other walls, however, have niches covered with painted plaster.
Today’s Strada Bagni, which connects the city with the hot springs area, follows the route of an ancient road carved into the rock. Despite modern modifications due to the widening of the road, the original appearance of the quarry road is still recognizable in some sections, along with remains of hypogean rooms and chamber tombs.
The project promoted by the ABAP Superintendence for the Province of Viterbo and Southern Etruria, with the support of the MIC under the Financial Programming - Law 190, has as its objectives the restoration, protection and enhancement of the site.
The restoration work aims to restore the conservative condition of the surfaces and materials, recovering the pictorial decorations that are today difficult to read due to accumulated deposits. Work will also be carried out on the painted plaster fragments from this context and currently kept in the storage of the Albornoz Fortress Museum in Viterbo, also evaluating their possible relocation. Periodic and specialized maintenance will ensure constant monitoring of the state of conservation, preventing phenomena of degradation and ensuring the protection of the site over time.
“The works have been started with funding of 400 thousand euros and are intended to stand in continuity with a series of interventions that should also affect the access system to the overlying older necropolis, the necropolis of Poggio Giudio,” said Superintendent Margherita Eichberg. The goal is first and foremost “to make usable a tomb that is very close to the city, which can therefore fit well into the cultural-tourist circuit of Viterbo. The restoration will also affect the decorative apparatus of the Oceane Tomb. The Office of Protection will work together with the Regional Museums Office of Lazio, which holds the Rocca Albornoz, to reconstitute a dismembered heritage: everyone will be able to know something more about this fragment of the necropolis of Viterbo.”
Pictured: naturalistic archaeological oasis of Poggio Giudio
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| Viterbo, the Oceane Tomb, a painted Roman-era burial chamber carved out of tuff, will be restored |
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