The Discovery of a Templar Border Castle of the Kingdom of Naples and the Urgency of Conservation

AUTHOR(S):

TITLE

The Discovery of a Templar Border Castle of the Kingdom of Naples and the Urgency of Conservation

ABSTRACT

The study of the monument of St. Mary della Porta, fortified church and even before the Chamber of Arms of the castle of S. Angelo, and of the walled village (Castel S.Angelo) located in the former Abruzzo further (now in the extreme offshoot of the region Lazio, affected by the telluric movements of 2016) It aims to document and promote the knowledge of the place, an essential premise for a correct future conservation, which does not ruin the site, handed down in its still medieval aspect. Through a historical survey of the site is described in this article an example of conservation, that of the visitation inside the fortified church, which should be an example for the conservation of the whole village. In fact, referring to the theory of restoration in particular to the school of Prof. Giovanni Carbonara, the conservation of the fresco must be carried out respecting the principles of restoration: Recognizability, reversibility, compatibility, minimum intervention, interdisciplinary. The fresco is restored following this logic. The purpose of the restoration carried out by private individuals in collaboration with the State is on the one hand the knowledge, on the other the correct intervention. In fact, the fifteenth century fresco was first consolidated, then cleaned and retouched taking into account the fragments of color and colors still existing and integrating the gaps with watercolor painting at rigatino. Where there were no traces of colour, as in the mantle of Our Lady, the neutral colour was left. The example of the restoration is useful both from an organizational point of view (privates that finance in collaboration with the ministry) both from an operational point of view (observance of the Five principles of the restoration, integration of the gaps etc.).But another important fresco is deteriorating: it is a chapter of a statute of 1566 whose hard copy has been lost and of which the restoration project is published. Other important writings appear near the fresco, outside, near the entrance door to the city walls. Who will help save this? Archeoclub will have the necessary funding to save a medieval Templar castle? We have the professionalism, the way to intervene for conservation, the project, the relief of all the walls and documentation but it seems that there is no interest in saving part of the story that covered Florence, L'Aquila, the Kingdom of Naples, France, Spain, Hungary, and, last but not least, the phenomenon of Templarismo, which is, therefore, the past of Europe.

KEYWORDS

Church Fortified, Abruzzo, Castrum Sancti Angeli, Benedectine, Templar, Conservation

REFERENCES

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Cite this paper

Flavia Festuccia. (2018) The Discovery of a Templar Border Castle of the Kingdom of Naples and the Urgency of Conservation. International Journal of Cultural Heritage, 3, 41-52