Caput Mundi: Restoration of the statues of Ponte Sant'Angelo

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 intervention aims to slow degradation through cleaning, disinfection, consolidation, and restoration of the monument’s surfaces and structures. It includes removing deposits, repairing cracks, reassembling fragments, and applying protective coatings to preserve materials like travertine, basalt, and metal. Additional works involve vegetation removal, metal treatment, and maintenance of the cobblestone pavement and silicone resins to enhance and protect the site. This project is financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility with EUR 1184000. The goal of the intervention is to slow the degradation processes through a series of operations. Activities will include disinfection of all surfaces, re-establishment of cohesion and adhesion, removal of deposits and encrustations using chemical and mechanical methods, replacement of unsuitable grout, verification of assemblies, and possible disassembly and reassembly of fragments. A structural check for deep cracks, sealing of cracks, repositioning of inscriptions, and application of protective and anti-graffiti coatings on the bases will be carried out. The project focuses on a series of interventions for the recovery and enhancement of the monument. Operations will include temporary grouting to prevent damage during cleaning, surface consolidation, mechanical removal of surface deposits, disinfection to remove weeds, and the use of biocidal products. Cleaning will be carried out using misting and atomisation systems with appropriate solutions, along with mechanical removal of resistant residues. Consolidation will involve detaching and bonding unsafe fragments, restoring adhesion where exfoliation has occurred, reassembling detached parts using pins and brackets, and supplementing missing parts with lime mortars and dowellings. Aesthetic restoration will include surface leveling and application of an appropriate protective coating. For travertine and basalt surfaces, cleaning by controlled washing and removal of infesting vegetation will be performed. The metal surfaces of the parapet gratings will be overhauled and treated with antioxidant products and, if necessary, replaced with new metal elements. Additionally, the cobblestone pavement will be arranged, and silicone resins will be overhauled.