Ricerc@Sapienza

The town of Velletri, whose origins date back to the early Iron Age, was provided with walls from at least the 4th century BC. Around the IX century the city was again fortified. The new walls were repaired several times until the middle of the XIX century. The events related to its disappearance are similar to those of other Italian and European towns, for which the literature, which over time has dealt with urban phenomena, has identified the cause of the systematic disposal of urban fortifications in the need for modernity.
Compared to the studies on the genesis of the walled cities, the investigations on the decommissioning of the fortifications are rather episodic. In this sense, the city walls of Velletri offer the opportunity to investigate several aspects: the construction of the walls, the events that have characterized their passage through the centuries, and the painful story of their demolition, partially retraceable through the documents kept in the Municipal Historical Archive of Velletri. The survey, together with the analysis of the documents, allowed us to recognize several surviving portions of the circuit, only partly already known. The identified parts have been analyzed, investigating their typology, construction techniques and masonry stratigraphy. What remains of the fortification is very degraded and only a restoration intervention, which starts from the recognition of what remains, can allow its transmission to the future.