Il restauro strutturale dei templi di Paestum dall’Ottocento all’attualità

Completely neglected for a long time, the Temples of Paestum were finally rescued from oblivion and became a significant point of reference in Western culture: from Piranesi to Schinkel and onwards up to all various Neoclassicisms. By good fortune the Temples have always undergone localized and balanced preserving operations, which have guaranteed their full authenticity, with the exception of a restoration campaign when modern structural strengthening techniques, widespread in archaeological restorations during the 1960’s, were applied . The first restorations were carried out by Bonucci in the early 19th century and were followed, around one century later, by the work of Amedeo Maiuri. In the 1960’s iron bars were inserted in the stone blocks and originated, a few years later, local damage in a column of the Temple of Athena, since it was struck by lightning. Comprehensive restorations, begun in the late 1980’s, have recently been completed. Structural issues were of course involved in this work. This paper draws a sequence of the previous works and illustrates the research leading up to the latest comprehensive restoration campaign. Criteria for planned maintenance, aiming to structural preservation, which were fixed in accordance with the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro, are shown as well as the recently emerging problems that are finally pointed out.