The 2017 campaign was run as a field school, as were the post-excavation laboratory work, with the participation of over 30 students from Genova University, in addition to some school pupils. Logistical and scientific support was provided by the Civic archaeological Museum and the International Institute of Ligurian Studies.

The excavations concentrated on area 8000, opened in 2016 in order to find the facade wall of the medieval church, destroyed during the 16th century for the construction of the Genoese fort, and thus gain a more precise idea of the cathedral’s overall plan. The area was extended to wards the NE and this revealed a substantial wall attached to the right side of the building, which can probably be identified as the facade wall. This would make the church larger than previously thought (c. 61 m long instead of 55m), but excavation needs to continue to the east in order to verify this.

In the meantime, a complete survey was made of all the emerging monumental remains in order to precisely document the layout and make a 3D reconstruction of the entire archaeological site, using the appropriate equipment, including drones thanks to the collaboration of the Istituto Geometri Boselli-Alberti.

Only the continuation of the excavations will verify the 2017 results and provide further knowledge of the most important religious building of medieval Savona.