CALTANISSETTA – Inspection in Vallelunga Pratameno, in the area affected by the doubling of the Palermo-Catania railway line, the councilor of Infrastructure and Transport, Marco Falcone, and the councilor of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Alberto Samonà, to coordinate the interventions to be carried out following the discovery of an important Roman settlement during the preventive surveillance activity carried out by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Caltanissetta. Present at the inspection were, among others, Salvatore Leocata, technical manager of RFI, the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Caltanissetta, Daniela Vullo, the commissioner of the municipality of Vallelunga, Cettina Nicosia and the representatives of the Sistemi e Progetti company of Rome, which is carrying out the work.
The visit to the site was accompanied by the archaeologist Marina Congiu who described the activities carried out so far that have brought out an important Roman rural villa of the 1st century AD, part of a settlement that should extend over an area of six hectares and which today constitutes an element of great cultural significance and undoubted attraction for the territory.
“This morning’s visit – say the councilors Falcone and Samonà – was very important because it made it possible to jointly verify the context that emerged and to lay the foundations for a joint action that reconciles the need to enhance the archaeological area with the construction of the works for the doubling of the railway line which constitutes a very important infrastructure that will make it possible to strengthen the rail transport system, with an inevitable impact on the development of the internal areas of the island “.
“This morning we have accepted the commitment of RFI – underlines the councilor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, Alberto Samonà – to contribute with their own works to the enhancement of the entire area where the excavation investigations are being carried out and on which they seem there is significant archaeological evidence, with a view to future use. The complex of great value could become, in fact, one of the main attractions of the area to be reached also through a cycling route connecting the Vallelunga station and the archaeological site, on which RFI seems to have given its availability “.
For the commissioner of Infrastructures and Transport, Marco Falcone “today’s inspection is very important for a synergistic action that reconciles the need to enhance the archaeological site with that of carrying out works that are strategic for our island. the importance of doubling the Palermo-Catania railway is evident, which will allow a quick connection between the two cities, especially by crossing inland areas that can draw great benefits and development opportunities from this important artery “.
“After the magnetometric investigation – explains Daniela Vullo, Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of Caltanissetta – we will now carry out some superficial archaeological tests to verify the existence of the underground structures that the research carried out to date seems to have identified. The wall structures that emerged from the month of last July to date, in fact, they seem to confirm the discovery of a rustic villa which, for size and type, in the northern sector of the province of Caltanissetta, does not seem to have comparisons at the moment “. Also present were the regional parliamentarian Michele Mancuso, the responsible archaeologist of Italfer Ettore Manfredi and the essay managers Eliana Lo Curto and Francesca Pulvirenti.