Tomb of the Orazi and Curiazi

Site: Albano Laziale ( RM)
Year: 2021
Client: Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per l'Area metropolitana di Roma e la provincia di Rieti.

The so-called Sepolcro degli Orazi e Curiazi is located in the municipality of Albano Laziale, on the right of the ancient Via Appia.

Built as a funeral memory along the regina viarum, the tomb consists of a square base on which four truncated conical towers rise at the corners and a central one of which very little remains. The alternate bands of pepperino slabs covered that entire ancient building. The remains of the imposing building has marked the surrounding landscape, as a topographical constant in the transformation of the territory over the centuries.

The enhancement project for the Tomb of the Orazi and Curiazi starts with a reflection on the need to give back to citizens and visitors a monument that is not fully usable today, an important opportunity for an urban archaeological site to reconstitute the link between a monument and its landscape.

The key points of the project start from the reinterpretation of the archaeological area in which the monument is inserted not only as a protective container of the building, but as an open and accessible space: the area is transformed from a place of passage to a meeting place, through the abolition of the current fence, the rearrangement of the greenery, the configuration of three entrances to the area of ​​the monument, the pedestrianization of the road now suitable for vehicles.