H.E. Mr. Jeffrey Prescott, Ambassador of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies based in Rome and ICCROM Director-General Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral, visited the Herculaneum Archaeological Park on Thursday, 19 September 2024. On the margins of the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Culture taking place in Naples, Ambassador Prescott expressed special interest in visiting the World Heritage site with ICCROM and learning more about its conservation and management, and the role it plays in ICCROM's capacity building.
The visit provides a fresh opportunity to showcase Herculaneum's exemplary approach to the care of cultural heritage and community outreach, while also highlighting its enduring and fruitful relationship with ICCROM. Over the years, Herculaneum has played a vital role in ICCROM’s training, serving as an “open-air classroom” where course participants have developed their skills in built heritage conservation, management, documentation and urban regeneration.
During the visit, led by the site’s Director, Francesco Sirano and Manager of the Herculaneum Conservation Project – Packard Humanities Institute, Jane Thompson, the delegations also met members of the local community of Ercolano and heard about the work being done to contribute to the social fabric and wellbeing of the people in the surrounding areas.
“It was an honour and privilege to tour the Herculaneum Archaeological Park and see firsthand how dedication and commitment to best practice is truly making an impact on both the site’s conservation and urban and social fabric of Ercolano,” ICCROM’s Director-General Gujral said.
“We are honored that this visit takes place in the context of the G7 International Meeting, ” says Director Sirano, “for which Herculaneum has also long been identified by ICCROM as an experimental laboratory of particular vitality and interest precisely because of the presence of the Packard Humanities Institute.
