By the end of the month the Roman Amphitheater park in Arezzo will reopen. He announces it Maria Gatto, director of the Gaio Cilnio Mecenate archaeological museum: “We are defining the details with the Superintendency”. There will be some innovations, including gravel paths and furnishings to make use of the place more pleasant: including a circular bench setup around the statue of Maecenas, to symbolize “the cultural circle” that nourished the Arezzo magnate, powerful advisor of the Emperor Octavian Augustus. Almost a year has passed since the closure, imposed for safety reasons following the fall of a large pine tree last summer. Soon the gates will open again, at least on the Via Margaritone side. For access from via Crispi, however, the times are longer: in fact, other resources still need to be found to arrange the numerous plants that need to be made safe in the north-east area of the garden”.
The reopening is certainly good news for Arezzo and visitors who, in view of the imminent summer of 2024, should finally be able to enjoy a public green space again, overlooking one of the greatest treasures of the city’s archaeology. The remains of the imposing Roman construction, almost 2 thousand years old, remained invisible from the road for ten months, although they can be regularly visited from the museum entrance Patron.
Over a year to fix everything
But how is it possible that it took a year to reopen the garden, even if only partially? And that it will probably take more than a year for the complete reopening? It must be said that within the green area there are another hundred large plants, among others pines, cypresses and lime trees. A voluminous flora that had needed adequate maintenance for some time. The weather events of the past summer have exposed some critical issues. The area is state property, i.e. of the State, whose management is entrusted to the Regional Museums Directorate of Tuscany (the former museum complex). Since the area is open during the day, like a city park, the management looked for help from the municipal administration, which it found four years ago.
The Municipality-Museum Management agreement
On August 3, 2020, the agreement materialized. Going back to the note from the Municipality of Arezzo at the time, we read that “the agreement, lasting ten years, provides for interventions and strategies both for the area of the public gardens and for the archaeological area of the Roman amphitheatre”. And in particular “the objectives identified for the first are those of maintaining and redeveloping the existing heritage, as well as encouraging people to visit the site”. Among the points of the agreement, going even more specifically, there is “the commitment on the part of the municipal administration for the ordinary maintenance of the area and the drafting, in the times and ways appropriate to it and compatibly with the resources and means available, of a planned list of redevelopment interventions and related project development, to be agreed with the regional management”.
Ordinary and extraordinary maintenance
As part of ordinary maintenance, the Municipality operated as for the other parks, emptying bins, ensuring closures and openings, mowing the grass and cleaning the foliage. The Management worked on the rest and, given the presence of unsafe plants, decided to ban the public from the area pending an analysis of the state of health of the greenery. Last October, an evaluation was entrusted to an agronomist; total expense for checks: 11 thousand euros. Weeks have passed, but the situation has only recently been resolved: the management made the south-west part of the park safe with another 10 thousand euros, arranging the trees that needed care. The gravel paths were then redone and the internal gate that divides the park in two was repainted (the part that will reopen from the part that will remain closed). And now, thanks to the involvement of a sponsor, the furnishings will arrive: seats around the perimeter of the amphitheater, the “circle” around the statue of Maecenas and a point bookcrossing, where books will be left available for passers-by. “We will reopen only a small part of the park, but it will be safe and well characterized”, concludes Maria Gatto. When will the rest reopen? “It’s difficult to make hypotheses – adds the director – but at least another 30-40 thousand euros will be needed”.
