The rescue of the imposing decagonal aula, known as the Temple of Minerva Medica, situated in via Giolitti will be a complex undertaking. The extensive bibliography makes this structure appear to be one of the most studied from antiquity. This contrasts with the severe undervaluation of the problems of stability, which has led to the collapse of almost the entire dome. Insufficient funding, following the complex restoration carried out in the 1940s, has meant that only very limited face-lifts have been undertaken since.
The causes of the building’s instability are becoming clearer following an accurate survey of the aula which mapped all structural lesions, the conclusion of the monitoring of acoustic vibrations and the start of geognostic and endoscopic investigations within the walls and foundations. The lack of homogeneity of the terrain on which the foundations rest seems to be principally responsible for the structural problems, with differential subsidence of the structures. What has emerged with increasing clarity during the course of investigations is, on the one hand the boldness of the architectural construction, for which direct observation suggest a post-Constantinian date, somewhere in the first decades of the 4th century, and on the other hand the necessity of re-building the dome and the supporting structures of the aula “a margherita”, before further ruinous collapse occurs.
The lack of money available to date has recently been compensated by the creation of a substantial fund, at the request of Adriano La Regina, from the Soprintendenza’s budget. This fund will finance the urgent operations of consolidation and restoration on the monument. The start of this project is at present being programmed together with the final investigations that need to be undertaken. (Mariarosaria Barbera)