Heritage - Religious buildings in the routes of restoration: the case of the church of St. Gennaro at the elm

The church of “St. Gennaro at the Elm” is located in the heart of the historical center of Naples. The date of its construction is uncertain, estimated by some experts to be around the 4th century and by others to be even before the year 680. In the early 17th century, the church was assigned to the “Congregation of Seventy-two Priests”. According to the historian Strazzullo, restoration works performed in those years altered its original decorative aspect. Furthermore, following further restoration work, the outer facade of the church was changed. Up until the early years of the 20st century, the interior was seriously impaired in its decorative features, due to neglect and especially as a result of restoration works, some of which had debatable results. In 2008, the Commission for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage of Naples approved the restoration works proposed by the “Giambattista Vico Foundation” about its interior parts. The restoration works of the exterior facades took place from 2011 to 2012. The project described in this article has developed from a survey phase aimed at the diagnosis of the pathologies, to the establishment of criteria and intervention methods, in accordance with principles of restoration. This study will describe the stages of the survey and subsequent processing of restoration up to showing the results of the intervention performed.