Amalfi Coast, restoration of the Roman Villa in Minori begins

One of the most important archaeological sites on the Amalfi Coast is about to be restored, enhanced, and expanded. In fact, the Regional Museums Directorate of Campania has announced the start of the restoration of the Roman Villa of Minori, an intervention that has been highly anticipated by both the local community and scholars.

The villa of Minori is an ancient place of otium of the Roman aristocrats, that is, a pleasure residence, and is among the best-preserved examples of a “maritime villa” in the Tyrrhenian area. It was built in the early 1st century AD, and remained inhabited and lived in, albeit with different functions, until the 7th century AD. The layout of the villa stretched all the way to the sea, taking advantage of the slope of the valley to the hillside to the west and right of the Regina Minor stream, and was distributed over two or more floors, around a central room covered by barrel vaults, the triclinium-ninfeo. The baths, service and reception rooms, part of the large viridarium (garden), surrounded by porticoes, and also the natatio (pool) are visible today.

The discovery of the villa dates back to the 1870s, but systematic excavations began only in the 1930s and continued until the 1950s. Instead, the opening of the Antiquarium dates back to the 1960s: today, the villa is one of the most appreciated and visited archaeological sites in the region. Since a few months, the archaeological site, which previously depended on the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio of Salerno and Avellino, has become part, together with its Antiquarium, of the network of cultural places pertaining to the Campania Regional Museums Directorate, following the adoption of DM 380 of October 22, 2021 by the Ministry of Culture. The important intervention, Maritime Villa and Antiquarium of Minori - restoration and recovery, financed under PON ERDF 2014-2020 “Culture and Development,” starts from a preliminary site of archaeological investigations, followed as far as the protection aspects are concerned by the Superintendence of Salerno and Avellino, which will allow to deepen the understanding and knowledge of the different historical and building phases of the villa, to date still not fully known. The results of the investigations will make it possible to proceed with scientific method to therestoration and enhancement of the entire archaeological site and thus expand the visit route of the villa and the Antiquarium.

The restoration of the Roman villa, the Ministry of Culture points out, is at the center of the enhancement actions that the regional directorate, in close collaboration with its sister company in Salerno and Avellino and the municipality of Minori, will also put in place through a shared path with the local community, to foster the knowledge and cultural promotion of what is one of the most important Roman archaeological sites propping up the Tyrrhenian coast and characterizing the tourist itinerary of the Coast, among the most famous and frequented in Campania.

“Even during the works, the site will continue to be usable,” says director Marta Ragozzino, “and will be a real ’construction site open’ to the public, where visitors will be able to follow live the stages of the archaeological investigations and enjoy a privileged view of the monument that will allow acquire a preliminary knowledge of the main features of the archaeological site and, at the same time, an awareness of its fragility as a place to be protected and preserved.”

Amalfi Coast, restoration of the Roman Villa in Minori begins

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