The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, represented by Honorary President, Senator Francesco Amoruso (Italy), participated to the latest mission of the Project “The Garden of Mermaids” aimed at the identification of antique wreckages buried and lost in the deep waters of the Gulf of Naples.
“This project, carried under the auspices of PAM, is part of a series of cultural initiatives, which based on research, protection and promotion of cultural heritage, are aimed at contributing to further enhance the collaboration among the Mediterranean countries for a more peaceful future”, Sen. Amoruso commented. The PAM Honorary President also recalled the commitment of PAM to the protection of cultural heritage including that threatened by wars and organised crime, as well as the works of a PAM dedicated conference held in Rabat, Morocco, on 14-15 May 2015, following the destruction by ISIS of the Palmyra site.
The Rabat seminar had recommended that governments demonstrate the utmost political will, and take joint action, to counter acts of destruction and looting of World Cultural Heritage in many regions of the world, and parliaments were invited to promote in their respective regions and national fora, the provisions of the relevant international conventions, the Resolutions on this matter by the United Nations Security Council, UNESCO, IPU and PAM.
The Project, to which the PAM committed its support at a preparatory meeting last July, is an initiative of the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation (RAS), founded in Washington DC in 2002, at the initiative of the University of Maryland, as a cooperative project in the field of cultural heritage. The RAS project aims to build an Archaeological Park of almost sixty hectares on the site of ancient Stabiae (a city buried with Pompeii and Ercolano by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano
in 79 AD).
The mission included the participation of Prof. Ugo Di Capua, Project Director, Prof. Tim Gambin, from the University of Malta, Prof. Vincenzo Morra, from the Federico II University of Naples, the Russian Geographical Society, as well as the U Boat Navigator support vessel with its two submersibles, with which a number of sealed amphorae dating back over 2000 years, were recovered at a depth of 105 meters.