LA SCOPERTA,SISTEMAZIONE E CONSERVAZIONEDELLA GRANDE

ISCRIZIONE DI GORTINA, NELL’ISOLADI CRETA(1884-1921): LA

PROTEZIONE DELLE TESTIMONIANZE E LE ESIGENZE DELLA

FRUIZIONE

RosarioScaduto

Dipartimento di Architettura, Università degli Studi di Palermo, viale delle Scienze, Edificio 8, 90100, Palermo,

rosario.scaduto@unipa.it

ABSTRACT

Attheendofthenineteenth century, theepigraphist F.Halbherr,sentbytheItalian Government, insearch of

ancient inscriptions on the island of Crete, between remarkable adventures came to, along with fellow

german E. Fabricius, the famous inscription of the laws of the city of Gortyn, island of Crete. The

inscription, one of the most remote and complete (until then known), contained the rules on family,

inheritance, and in general the rights and duties of some of the peoples of the Cretan civilization (480-450

b.C). The laws of Gortyn were carved on the remains of an ancient wall forming the passageway in front of

the steps of the odeon, built in Roman times. The essay traces the events that led to the discovery and

subsequent storage of the laws of Gortyn made ​by Halbherr with the help of archaeologist L. Pernier and​

with the help of architect E. Stefani, who designed a modern cover on the top of blocks of limestone

containing ambulatory registration. In fact, we are dealing with protection of archaeological remains fully

inserted into a unique cultural landscape, which certainly requires regular maintenance, but not particularly

costly in terms of operational difficulties to be used for its continued implementation. The degradation

observed in the monument, now consisting of the Great Inscription and the same protection, are the natural

degradation of the new stone materials used in the early twentieth century, while the existing blocks

engraved,remaintotestifytotheirauthenticity,thethoughtofWesternman.

Parolechiave/Key-words: Gortyn(Crete),protectionofarchaeologicalsites,fruition,maintenance