Designing contested heritage within the sacred context. The AΧΕΙΡΟΠΟΙΗΤΟΣ monastery, Cyprus

The analysis of the Aχειροποίητος monastery shows the superimposition of different buildings: a domed church with a central plan, built in late Byzantine times over the ruins of an early Christian basilica, enlarged by the addition of three successive narthexes, and therefore transformed into a longitudinal basilica. The name Aχειροποίητος, literally “made without hands”, referred to a sacred icon hosted therein. A walled enclosure surrounds the church and contains the monastery, which developed in subsequent phases, with different additions, demolitions and restorations. We outlined the formation process of the complex, from the V cent. Basilica, to the transformation of the monastery into military barracks in the 1970s, as a premise for the restoration project. Recently the Department of Antiquities assigned the monastery to the Girne American University for its restoration and it is urgent to accomplish some statical interventions. The management of this site, hence the political situation of northern Cyprus, represents an interesting case study on the contested heritage issue. Nevertheless, the heritage management in Cyprus, for the complex political situation of the island, bears more difficulties than in other UE countries, but we should consider that every heritage site has someway a contested character. An architectural project was experimented, according to the typo-morphological approach of the Muratorian Italian School, based on the principle that new buildings should be the continuation of the old ones, without imitating them, but following their formation process, as the last step of an ongoing process. We did not conceive the new architecture as an object contrasting with the context, but following the full understanding of the processual transformations of the site, it was possible to design the new addition to the monastic building as a living organism, in conformity with the sacred context

Bridging a divided island with the Cyprus Network of Urban Morphology

During the 22nd ISUF conference: City as organism. New visions for urban life, organised by ISUF Italy at the Faculty of Architecture in Rome, in 2015, a small group, comprising Nadia Charalambous, Ilaria Geddes, Nevter Zafer Cömert, Sebnem Önal Hoskara, Naciye Doratli and myself decided to get together and establish a local bicommunal Cypriot party of the International Seminar for Urban Form

Permanence of roman toponyms in the middle ages: Castrum Corzani and the first settlement of S. Piero in Bagno, Forum corzani

There has been a long discussion in the past decades on continuity or discontinuity between the decline of the roman rural settlement and the small towns and castles that arise, starting from the tenth century, in what historians have called the phase of “incastellamento”. Recognizing the widespread presence of praedial toponyms in modern cartography and in medieval notarial sources, using a GIS to handle a large amount of site names and documents, it was possible to correlate the site of a rustic villa, Valbiano (Sarsina), with the “incastellamento” phenomena. Within the distribution of praedial toponyms in the Ager Sarsinatis, some common characters were recognized and it was possible to correlate sites of rustic villas with medieval castles, showing the permanence of place names as a base for a “longue durèe” continuity of land use, through different land ownerships, from roman times to the middle ages. The medieval castrum corzani (1199) was built in hilltop position and, even though preserving the roman toponym, is mentioned later than a curte corçani (1177). It was possible to hypothesize the presence of a walled mercatale, forum corzani (1239) in a valley position, as the medieval fortified nucleus of the town of S. Piero in Bagno, similarly to the terra murata of Bagno di Romagna, built in continuity with the Roman thermal settlement of Balneus S. Mariae. Within this walled enclosure the urban fabric follows the orientation of roman land partition, suggesting the presence of a former rustic settlement, belonging to the fundus curtianus.Peer Reviewe

Avamportico

Costruzione di una o più campate, costituita da un portico collocato davanti all'ingresso dell’edificio e da esso strutturalmente indipendente (nartece). Alle basiliche paleocristiane si accedeva attraverso un portico semplice o un quadriportico, struttura adibita a proteggere dalla pioggia e dal sole i pellegrini che vi sostavano e, talvolta, anche a delimitare un’area cimiteriale

Casello

Diminutivo di casa, piccola casa, edificio abitativo isolato (dal latino casa, s.f., capanna, casupola). A partire dall'introduzione delle autostrade il termine casello indica, in generale, soprattutto la barriera per il pagamento del pedaggio collocata in prossimità di uno svincolo autostradale

Aia

Dal latino area, distesa, piazza, cortile, originariamente spazio aperto e pianeggiante di terreno per la battitura del grano, o più in generale porzione di terreno agricol

Atelier Tiber. Workshop internazionale sulla riqualificazione delle sponde del Tevere

Atelier Tiber Facoltà di Architettura "Valle Giulia" College of Architecture, Myongji University 7-19 luglio 2008 v. anche F. De Matteis, Atelier Tiber Workshop internazionale sulla riqualificazione delle sponde del Tevere Federico De Matteis, Hortus, http://www.vg-hortus.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=506&Itemid=4

Beni culturali contesi. Il riuso del monastero di Acheiropoietos, Cipro

A close analysis of the Acheiropoietos monastery in Cyprus shows the superimposition of different constructions. The existing domed church, built on a central plan in late Byzantine times over the ruins of an early Christian basilica, was enlarged by the addition of three successive narthexes, and therefore transformed into a longitudinal type basilica. The name Acheiropoietos, literally made without hands, was referred most probably in the origins of this church to an icon “made without hands”, so probably one of the numerous images of Christ or the Virgin that are referred in history. The name, through wrong writings and therefore misunderstandings survives to this day, telling us in an immaterial way a part of the history of this building conceived, and therefore named, to host a sacred icon. All around the church a walled enclosure contains the monastery, built in different phases with several additions, bearing a complex history. The formation process of the monastery can be therefore traced from the late antique three naves basilica, built in the V century in the suburbs of the ancient city of Lapithos, all the way down to the transformation of the site into military barracks in the 1970’. Recently the monastery has been assigned to the Girne American University for restoration and hence its condition requires urgent preservation interventions. Therefore the management of this site, hence the political situation of northern Cyprus, represents an interesting case study on the contested heritage issue. During the international workshop “Reading and designing the area of Lambousa, Karavas” (Sapienza-Girne American University), held in Cyprus in November 2014, several activities were accomplished: such as a laser scanner survey of the monastery, the documentation of its mosaics, spolia and wooden artifacts, the study of the different masonry phases of the building, also different conservation project proposals were experimented. The international workshop was essential for the wider international cooperation framework and an essential prerequisite for the preservation and continuation into the future of the monument within bicommunal organs. Nevertheless, the heritage management in Cyprus, for the complex political situation of the island, bears more difficulties than in other UE countries, but we should consider that every heritage site has someway a contested character

Aiuola

Dal latino areola, diminutivo di area, cortiletto, piccola area scoperta, ovvero piccola aia, ne è sinonimo il termine desueto aiett

Cancelleria

Ufficio o residenza del cancelliere, secondo le funzioni che il titolo ha assunto in diversi periodi storici