Caput Mundi: Restoration and renovation of Pavilion 9c in the former slaughterhouse of Testaccio project

Caput Mundi Next Generation EU for touristic great events (Mission 1, Component 3, Investment 4.3)

Italy’s Recovery and Resilience Plan increases the number of accessible tourist sites in Rome, creating valid and qualified tourist and cultural alternatives with respect to the crowded central areas, as well as increasing the use of digital technologies, enhance green areas and the sustainability of tourism. The investment envisages six lines of interventions:
1. “Roman Cultural Heritage for EU-Next Generation”, covering the regeneration and restoration of cultural and urban heritage and complexes of high historical-architectural value of the city of Rome;
2. “Jubilee paths” (from pagan to Christian Rome), targeted to the enhancement, safety, anti-seismic consolidation, restoration of places and buildings of historical interest and archaeological pathways;
3. #LaCittàCondivisa, covering the redevelopment of sites in peripheral areas;
4. #Mitingodiverde, covering interventions on parks, historical gardens, villas and fountains;
5. #Roma 4.0, covering the digitalization of cultural services and the development of apps for tourists;
6. #Amanotesa, aimed at increasing the supply of cultural offer to peripheries for social integration.

The investment is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility by EUR 500 million and includes this project.
The Mattatoio (slaughterhouse), located in an archaeologically significant area, urgently needs restoration. It suffers from widespread degradation including rising damp, roof damage (cracks, material detachment), infiltration dampness, curtain and travertine cornice damage, detached plaster, discolored finishes, and degraded cast iron structures and roof trusses. Initial assessments revealed loosened, de-tensioned metal roof trusses. The restoration aims to recover the pavilion's original appearance (as designed by Gioacchino Ersoch), highlight its historical transformations, and balance new functionality with its crucial role as an industrial archaeology artifact. This project is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility with EUR 4680000. The slaughterhouse stands on an area of great archaeological interest. The building is in need of restoration work due to its condition. In particular, the following are evident: widespread degradation phenomena related to rising damp; cracks characterized by damage and partial detachment of material at the roof; widespread degradation phenomena due to dampness from infiltration; damage to the curtain and travertine cornices of the lunettes; widespread detachment of the internal finishing plaster layer and discoloration of internal and external finishes; degradation of cast iron structures due to runoff; degradation of the roof trusses. Initial investigations for static and seismic assessment revealed that the metal roof trusses had visibly loosened their constituent elements, which were no longer tensioned. Within the overall framework of the restoration of the Ex-Mattatoio di Testaccio monumental complex, the project will have the following objectives: to recover the original appearance of the pavilion as conceived by the architect Gioacchino Ersoch; make evident the traces left by the transformations the pavilion has undergone over time; reconcile the new requirements of functionality with the legibility of an industrial archaeology artifact of primary importance.