In recent years, archaeological excavations have been undertaken in the Oppian Hill park above the Domus Aurea pavilion with the aim of testing rehabilitation and waterproofing systems for the ancient structures, in order to intercept rainwater and thus eliminate percolations inside the underground monument.
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The first “Conservation Plan for the Monument” (Preliminary project report and definitive project), developed from an idea by A. Vodret, was drawn up by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma in March 2011 and written by F. Filippi, A. Vodret, I. Sciortino, E. Segala and M. Pesce. It was then presented to the Technical Committees for Archaeological, Architectural and Landscape Heritage of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBAC). Subsequently, those parts of the project concerning the consolidation of structures and decorations, and the tests for the proposed new arrangement of the waterproof roof were launched.
The problematic coexistence of the botanical features of the Oppian Hill and the underground archaeological structures of Trajan’s Baths and the Domus Aurea is well known.
The plants on the Trajanic Terrace date to the arrangement designed in several stages by A. Munoz in the 1930s and include:
Conservation work aimed at securing the surfaces of the Domus Aurea decorated with plaster, wall paintings and stucco elements are proceeding in parallel with stability tests on architectural structures and environmental monitoring.
From 2006, the East Wing of the Domus Aurea, centred around the famous Octagonal Room, was the site of works undertaken by the Commissioner appointed to urgently secure the Domus Aurea by Directive no. 3541 of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of 18 August 2006. After a research and planning phase, the first consolidation interventions (1st batch) began in 2010. These works, directed by the Commissioner L. Marchetti, entailed consolidating vertical walls and jack arches, alongside structural and microclimatic monitoring, concentrated in the East Wing of the monument. With the Directive of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers no. 4017 of 25 April 2012 the state of emergency ceased and responsibility for the whole monument and its management, with the remaining funds, was returned to the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma, which in the meantime had continued to work in the West Wing as well as acting to safeguard the monument.
In recent years, our understanding of Nero’s residence on the Oppian Hill has significantly improved with the acquisition of new data supplied by archaeological research organized in the East Wing by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (SSBAR) from 2000 onwards.