Centro di
Conservazione
Archeologica

In the 1970s, an incredible group of stone fragments representing archers, boxers, warriors and nuraghe models was retrieved from the funerary and sacred area of Monte ‘e Prama, Cabras, Oristano. The typology of the fragments, their quantity, as well as their conservation condition, make this discovery one of the most important cultural events of the end of this millennium, both on a regional and on a national level.

In 2007 the program of documentation, conservation, restoration and museum display of the Monte ‘e Prama sculptures started. It was a cultural multidisciplinary program aiming to join together the aspects of conservation and restoration, of public engagement and of communication on a regional, national and international level.

The Old Centaur and Young Centaur in gray marble, dating to the second century AD,  rank among the most notable items in the Capitoline collection, and have been displayed in the main hall of the Palazzo Nuovo since 1765, when Pope Clement XIII purchased them and donated them to the museum. The statues are of extremely high technical and artistic quality, and figure among the most significant pieces of ancient sculpture. The CCA’s conservation treatment has returned them to their ancient splendor. The statues’ exceptional nature, their location in a key area of the Capitoline Museums, and the great delicacy and fascination of the restoration treatment offered an opportunity to transform the traditional “closed for restoration” worksite into an “open” cultural event offering communication and transmission of historical, archaeological, technical and conservation information about the works.

Tucked among the rugged granite mountains of the Sinai range, at the base of the mountain linked to the biblical story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, beneath a dry, clear sky shedding a dazzling light, the Monastery of Saint Catherine has for fifteen centuries preserved the sacred memory of one of the most venerated places on the planet, as well as works of art and history that are among the richest and most important of the world’s cultural heritage.

Among these, the mosaic of the Transfiguration of Christ, which decorates the apse of the monastery basilica, represents an outstanding moment in sixth-century Byzantine monumental art.

The Amiriya madrasa was built at the behest of the sultan Amir bin Abd al-Wahhab of the Tahirid dynasty, in 1504. The building is richly decorated on the interior, especially in the prayer hall: above an intricately carved stucco frieze with Koranic inscriptions, there are elaborate and highly colorful tempera wall paintings bearing epigraphs, geometric designs and plant forms.

The ruined and derelict condition of the entire monument induced Selma Al Radi, a well-known archaeologist, to embark on a program for its conservation and recovery, using only traditional materials and techniques. After twenty-two years of work, the Amiriya project ended in 2005, returning an exceptional monument to the city and nation.

In 2001 the CCA was put in charge of Zeugma’s conservation by the PHI and the Turkish Ministry of Culture. Thus began a major program to restore the mosaics.

The mosaics are dated between the second and third centuries AD and primarily came from wealthy private homes. They form a collection of high artistic worth and an extraordinary document of the city’s history and ancient techniques of mosaic production. An integral part of the project was the construction of two laboratories for restoration of mosaics and wall paintings, as well as reserves for the mosaics, which are still available to the Gazientep museum.