On the proposal of the Fondazione Aquileia President, the Board of Directors decided to dedicate the valorization work of the Roman road (recently granted by the Ministry) to the memory of Ivo Comelli, the son, prematurely died in 1997, of the former Mayor of Aquileia, Dr. Sergio Comelli.
Fondazione Aquileia is going to acquire ownership of the fondo Comelli-Gerometta, crossed by the ancient Roman road named Aratria Gallia’s Decumanus ( I century A.D. ). Fondazione Aquileia aims to open the road to citizens and visitors as soon as possible, in order to link the River Port path to the Roman Forum up to the Byzantine Walls and the Great Baths.
The fondo Comelli-Gerometta extends for about 1.420 square meters, on the right of the Regional Road 352, in front of the Roman Forum. The archaeological excavations, carried out by the Soprintendenza between the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, brought to the light the Decumanus and the Civil Basilica remains, together with a defense wall and some early-medieval buildings. The “Aratria Gallia’s Decumanus” name comes from the discovery of two epigraphs testifying the paving of the Road payed by Aratria Gallia, the daughter of an exponent of the entrepreneurial bourgeoisie of the time.
The link with the Roman road valorization work is important for the building of a unitary Archaeological Park in Aquileia, and the Fondazione Aquileia (in which Board of Directors are represented the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Municipality of Aquileia and the Society for the Conservation of the Aquileia Basilica) dedication to the memory of Ivo Comelli intend to be a shared sign of affection and closeness to the Dr. Comelli and Mrs Cristina.
