Las tareas de conservación en el Monte Palatino, una de las siete colinas de Roma, ha producido un gran tesoro arqueológico, incluyendo una cueva que según la leyenda era reverenciada por los antiguos habitantes de la ciudad como el lugar en que una loba amamantó a los legendarios fundadores de la urbe, anunciaron el martes los arqueólogos.
El hallazgo surge en medio de un congreso internacional que analiza los planes para salvar monumentos decrépitos o en pobre estado de conservación en el Monte Palatino.
Los especialistas en restos de la Roma clásica que asisten compartieron los resultados de los estudios de los palacios imperiales amenazados con el desplome, lo que obligó a las autoridades a cerrar el acceso de casi todos ellos al público.
Aunque escasean los fondos, las autoridades piensan abrir algunas zonas claves de la colina al acceso turístico para fines de año, incluyendo varios salones decorados con frescos en el palacio del emperador Augusto y su esposa Livia.
Los palacios, clausurados durante décadas, serán abiertos parcialmente de nuevo para que los turistas puedan efectuar visitas guiadas hasta fines del 2008, dijeron las autoridades.
Durante la restauración del palacio del primer emperador romano los trabajadores encontraron una gruta en la que según la leyenda mitológica la loba Luperca amamantó a Rómulo y Remo, los fundadores de la ciudad, e hijos abandonados por el dios de la guerra, Marte.
La arqueóloga encargada del Palatino y del cercano Foro Romano, Irene Iacopi, dijo que mientras realizaban catas en la colina, los trabajadores encontraron una cavidad a una profundidad de 16 metros. Los especialistas utilizaron una cámara operada por control remoto y encontraron una cámara abovedada decorada con frescos, nichos y conchas marinas.
Fuente: http://www.24horaslibre.com/
Rome's Palatine Hill shows new treasures
ROME ork on Rome's Palatine Hill has turned up a trove of discoveries, including what might be the underground grotto where ancient Romans believed a wolf nursed the city's legendary founders Romulus and Remus.
Archaeologists gathered Tuesday at a conference to save crumbling monuments on the Palatine discussed findings of studies on the luxurious imperial homes threatened by collapse and poor maintenance that have forced the closure of much of the hill to the public. While funds are still scarce, authorities plan to reopen some key areas of the honeycombed hill to tourists by the end of the year, including frescoed halls in the palaces of the emperor Augustus and of his wife, Livia.
After being closed for decades, parts of the palaces will be opened for guided tours while restoration continues, officials said.
It was during the restoration of the palace of Rome's first emperor that workers taking core samples from the hill found what could be a long-lost place of worship believed by ancient Romans to be the cave where a she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the abandoned twin sons of the god of war Mars.
Irene Iacopi, the archaeologist in charge of the Palatine and the nearby Roman Forum, said experts used a probe to peer into the 52-foot-deep cavity and found a vaulted space decorated with frescoes, niches and seashells. It is too early to say for sure whether the worship place known as "lupercale"_ from "lupa," Latin for wolf - has been found, but Roman texts say that it was close to Augustus' palace and that the emperor had restored it, Iacopi said.
"It was a very important symbolic place and we believe that it was well preserved," said Giovanna Tedone, an architect leading the work at the palace. Archaeologists are now looking for the grotto's entrance, she said.
Other finds to have emerged recently from the Palatine's largely unexplored palaces and temples include an ancient Roman sewer, insignia believed to have belonged to the emperor Maxentius, terra-cotta statues and an alabaster tiger striped with gray marble.
Officials said the resurfaced treasures highlight the importance of a hill so favored by the rich and powerful that its name is at the origin of the words "palace" in English, "palais" in French and "palazzo" in Italian.
Today rainwater seeps through stones, roots bore through bricks and retaining walls crack under layer after layer of construction, from the eighth-century B.C. remains of Rome's first fledgling huts to a medieval fortress and Renaissance villas.
Only a quarter of the Palatine's nearly 500 buildings are above the ground and just 40 percent of the hill's 67 acres can be visited.
The latest closure came in November 2005, when a 16th-century wall collapsed one night in a well-visited area near the emperor Tiberius' palace. No one was hurt, but the collapse prompted authorities to study the stability of the hill and its monuments.
Experts said Tuesday they are considering restoring the ancient Roman sewage system to help drain rainwater.
Each year, 4 million people buy a ticket granting access to the Palatine and the nearby Colosseum, but 90 percent of them just go to the ancient arena, said Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli. The minister said that $9 million will be available in 2007 for more restoration on collapse-prone areas such as Tiberius' palace.
Fuente: http://www.kansascity.com/
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