Nisida island is connected to the mainland at Coroglio (Naples, Italy) through a dike built in 1934, placed in the same position of a probable similar structure of roman time. About at midway, the dike surrounds a rock called Scoglio del Lazzaretto (Quarantine rock). It got its name in 1593, when a quarantine structure was built over the rock to host foreign goods and sailors. The rock is bored on its longest dimension by a 130 m long tunnel, placed at sea level and probably dating back to roman times. The tunnel is presently partly filled by sea water, to an average depth of 2 m, but, due to the bradyseism, it should be emerged in roman times, so as to serve as a communication way related to nearby harbours. In the XVIII century the neapolitan naturalist Filippo Cavolini [3] performed a pionieristic research about sea cave hydroids in the Lazzaretto cave; in more recent times Severino [9] stressed the archaeological relevance of the cave. Recently, the cave was the subject of ecological studies and of coastal line variation measures. A new caving survey was performed, paying special attention to the underwater features; a preliminary bio-ecological characterization was performed, compared with the list of species described by Cavolini [3]. On September 16th, 2011 a clean-up operation was performed within the cave. It was promoted and supported by the Municipality of Naples and by the Phlegraean Fields Regional Park; 800 kg of rubbish were recovered; among them there were marine batteries (260 kg). With respect to the XVIII century, the faunistic and ecological-environmental features are drastically changed in the cave and in the surrounding area; nevertheless in the cave we can still find some interesting environmental quality indicators. The morphological and archaeological features give us important information on the connection between the cave and the roman remains into the area.
La Grotta del Lazzaretto è una cavità artificiale di origine romana, situata nelle vicinanze dell'isola di Nisida (Napoli) ed attualmente semi-sommersa a causa del fenomeno bradisismico. Fino al XIX secolo la cavità presentava un ricco habitat di grotta marina, messo in evidenza da pionieristiche ricerche ([3], [4], [5]). In seguito l'area ha subito i pesanti influssi legati all'insediamento industriale di Bagnoli. Solo di recente la cavità è stata oggetto di nuove ricerche di carattere multidisciplinare ([6], [9]) e di una prima operazione di recupero ambientale. Vengono presentati i risultati preliminari di tali ricerche, volti a determinare le caratteristiche biocenotiche della cavità e le relative possibilità di recupero ed a ricavare indicazioni utili alla caratterizzazione del fenomeno bradisismico.
NUOVI STUDI INTERDISCIPLINARI SULLA GROTTA DEL LAZZARETTO (NAPOLI) NEW MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCHES ON THE LAZZARETTO CAVE (NAPLES-ITALY)
Guido Villani
2012
Abstract
Nisida island is connected to the mainland at Coroglio (Naples, Italy) through a dike built in 1934, placed in the same position of a probable similar structure of roman time. About at midway, the dike surrounds a rock called Scoglio del Lazzaretto (Quarantine rock). It got its name in 1593, when a quarantine structure was built over the rock to host foreign goods and sailors. The rock is bored on its longest dimension by a 130 m long tunnel, placed at sea level and probably dating back to roman times. The tunnel is presently partly filled by sea water, to an average depth of 2 m, but, due to the bradyseism, it should be emerged in roman times, so as to serve as a communication way related to nearby harbours. In the XVIII century the neapolitan naturalist Filippo Cavolini [3] performed a pionieristic research about sea cave hydroids in the Lazzaretto cave; in more recent times Severino [9] stressed the archaeological relevance of the cave. Recently, the cave was the subject of ecological studies and of coastal line variation measures. A new caving survey was performed, paying special attention to the underwater features; a preliminary bio-ecological characterization was performed, compared with the list of species described by Cavolini [3]. On September 16th, 2011 a clean-up operation was performed within the cave. It was promoted and supported by the Municipality of Naples and by the Phlegraean Fields Regional Park; 800 kg of rubbish were recovered; among them there were marine batteries (260 kg). With respect to the XVIII century, the faunistic and ecological-environmental features are drastically changed in the cave and in the surrounding area; nevertheless in the cave we can still find some interesting environmental quality indicators. The morphological and archaeological features give us important information on the connection between the cave and the roman remains into the area.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
