Opere di pronto intervento e restauro nei complessi monumentali di Santo Spirito e San Francesco in Agrigento, danneggiati dai bombardamenti della Seconda Guerra Mondiale

Abstract

Starting from January 1943, the city of Agrigento, was subjected to a double air and naval bombing action with the subsequent Allied military occupation. The two monumental religious complexes that are the subject of this study, the Benedictine monastery of Santo Spirito and the church of the Franciscan Minor Conventual Friars, suffered considerable damage following the bombing of 12 July 1943. In this paper, we will retrace the history of the restoration of these two precious monuments, with the first and troubled works of emergency and the consequent debates on which methodological approach to follow in the light of the extraordinary nature of the actions required. In a timespan of about fifty years, the dedication of scholars and ordinary people has led to the restoration and enhancement of these ancient buildings, through the interventions of reconstruction, restoration, and sometimes the liberation of pre-existing architectures from the superstructures that had erased all traces of them.