Swell in Naples, Bourbon Arch collapses: superintendence had mandated restoration

In place of theBourbon Arch there is now a pile of stones: the ancient 18th-century landing stage, a symbol of Naples’ waterfront, a short distance from Castel dell’Ovo, has collapsed. To Neapolitans it was known as “o’ chiavicone” and was a pier made of blocks of lava stone, dating back to the second half of the 18th century, the last vestige of the ancient activity of the fishermen of the village of Santa Lucia, eternalized by the songs of the Neapolitan tradition. In the nineteenth century it had been moved and transformed into the terminal of a sewer drain, but had kept its appearance unchanged: it consists of a barrel vault in yellow tuff, with a lava stone walking surface. What is serious is that it had been pouring in the most total neglect for a long time, despite being one of the most concrete evidences of the Neapolitan waterfront (journalist Angelo Forgione, from the pages of his blog, has repeatedly denounced its risk of collapse, and like him many associations of the area, citizens and politicians who have repeatedly asked the Port Authority, owner of the structure, to intervene).

Now it all sounds like a hoax: all it took was a strong sea storm, the one that has hit the Gulf of Naples in recent hours, to collapse the small Bourbon landing place, featured in so many paintings from the Romantic period or made by the famous Posillipo School. It had recently been shored up only with innocent pipes, a measure, however, that was insufficient to withstand the impact of the sea storms that caused the structure to collapse. And now the collapse sounds like an outrage to the city’s history.

Yet the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the City of Naples had enjoined the Port Authority to intervene in a missive last May. In the letter addressed to the president of the Port Authority, Pietro Spirito, and signed by superintendent Luigi La Rocca and official Luigi Rondinella, the Piazza del Plebiscito entity pointed out that “currently the structure is in such a precarious static condition that consolidation and restoration interventions are urgent and cannot be postponed. [...] The left arch is lost, while the right arch is close to collapse, having lost, over time, due to the sea backwash and periodic storms, the stone elements constituting the relevant buttress and foundation slab. In its present state, the arch, in fact, discharges its entire weight on a small portion of the foundation pier, which has recorded, over time, a serious translation out of plumb. Equally compromised appear to be the static conditions of the yellow tuff barrel vault, which, it should be recalled, was originally contained between the aforementioned two basalt arches. On the vaults, in fact, there are gaps in the wall face in several places as well as severe erosive states of the stone blocks and mortar joints.” The superintendence also highlighted the “state of deep neglect, with abandoned and vandalized protection and deterrence elements such as to compromise the decorum of the valuable Neapolitan waterfront.” The body also suggested what interventions to put in place, including consolidation, securing and restoration.

The letter from the superintendency leaves no room for doubt. Thus it reads, "For all the above, in order to ensure the preservation of the cultural asset in question, pursuant to Article 32 of Legislative Decree 42/2004, it is imposed on this Port Authority, as the concessionary Entity, the obligation to carry out the necessary safety and restoration work" (bold in the quotation mark is from the original).

“There are serious responsibilities of the Port Authority in the collapse of the Bourbon arch on the Neapolitan waterfront,” says Francesco Emilio Borrelli, regional councilor of Campania, of the Europa Verde formation, who is always very active on heritage issues. “Despite repeated warnings from us to take action to protect the entire stretch of waterfront from the ’Broken Column’ to the Bourbon Pier and urging from the Soprintendenza to intervene in the restoration of the latter, the body headed by Pietro Spirito has not only failed to understand the seriousness of the situation, but has not even deigned to give a response. For about two years, official notes have been forwarded to all the agencies involved, the Municipality, the Superintendency and the Port Authority, denouncing the dangers that were gradually materializing given the obvious state of disrepair in which the area was lying. An email more than six months ago was answered verbatim by the Superintendent, Luigi La Rocca, that all the reports to the Port Authority had sadly fallen on deaf ears to the point of a warning to intervene. The only result achieved was the interdiction of the area, which was never properly controlled, and a protection that, evidently, was of little use against the force of the sea. Under everyone’s eyes the damage of the recent sea storm from the ’Broken Column’ to the Bourbon Pier, an area at risk that we have continually reported. Now we are ready to denounce to identify all the defaults that have caused this affront to the city starting with those of the Port Authority.”

For Mayor Luigi De Magistris, responsibility also lies with the Port Authority: “A storm surge devastated one of the symbols of Naples’ rebirth in recent years. It will not be a horrible year that will stop us. Naples will shine again with the strength of its people. Our administration has repeatedly urged the Port Authority, as the owner, to intervene with maintenance and safety works. We, for our part, have financed the waterfront redevelopment works that will begin shortly.”

Indignation also came from Francesco Carignani of Novoli, a city councilor, former president of the Italian Youth Association for UNESCO and current president of the Musae Cultural Association, which deals with land protection. Carignani explains, “We waited a long time for the work, whose competence was neither of the Municipality nor of the Municipality, but I had chosen to deal with it anyway. The Superintendent’s Office had intimated the restoration to the Port Authority for many months, demanding that the work begin very quickly. The Port Authority in these months had only secured it. Why had the work not begun? I had repeatedly urged the Port Authority to begin work, the last time a few days ago. I was assured of a meeting with the Superintendence for restoration work in early January. Now it is too late. Too much time lost... I am really bitter, and I expect the Superintendence to shed light to the end as to why these works never started.” Carignani himself on Dec. 29, after another storm surge, wrote that the Bourbon arch had held up, and that “we eagerly await the restoration work by the Port Authority itself, having already with the past been obliged by the Superintendency to carry out the work quickly.”

Pictured: left, the Bourbon arch before the collapse (ph. Floriana Yrolf), right after (ph. Engineering Benigni)

Swell in Naples, Bourbon Arch collapses: superintendence had mandated restoration

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