The rediscovery

The memory of ancient Suasa has never completely faded, preserved by the constant visibility of its monumental remains emerging from the farmland. Following the first scholarly references from the Renaissance period, such as those by Cluverio, it was the Corinaldo-born historian Vincenzo Maria Cimarelli who, in 1642, provided the first systematic description of the ancient city. In his *Istorie dello Stato d'Urbino*, Cimarelli documented the remains still visible on the surface and the first occasional excavations, linking the identity of the area to its classical roots through the account of a “superb amphitheatre” and magnificent towers.

It is to Cimarelli that we owe the valuable information regarding the construction of Ottaviano Volpelli’s residence in the heart of the Roman urban area. A distinguished jurist at the court of the Della Rovere family under Dukes Guidobaldo II and Francesco Maria II, Volpelli chose the terrace at the bottom of the valley to build his residence, thereby linking his name forever to this part of the territory now known as Pian Volpello. The building, known by the rural name of ‘Tappatino’, stands as tangible evidence of this historical continuity. The farmhouse takes the form of a veritable ‘vertical archive’, where the external walls reveal a close link with the ancient city thanks to the systematic use of bricks, marble blocks and reused sandstone paving stones. The jurist’s signature, the inscription ‘OCTAVIANVS VVLPELLVS’ on the lintel of the doorway, officially confirms the intention to ennoble the residence through a direct reference to the authority of the past.

 After the 17th century, interest in the site remained dormant until the second half of the 19th century, when investigations resumed with the test excavations commissioned by the Ruspoli Princes in 1878 and the fundamental observations made by Edoardo Brizio in 1894 during the construction of the Corinaldo aqueduct.

In the first half of the 20th century, the preservation of the site was driven by the passion and tireless efforts of Gello Giorgi, a local enthusiast who, from the 1950s onwards, dedicated his life to safeguarding the memory of Suasa. At a time when academic research was still lacking, Giorgi undertook to collect, catalogue and save from loss a vast amount of material that local farmers discovered daily whilst working in the fields in the valley floor.

 Although his approach was at times methodologically flawed and piecemeal, Giorgi’s work marked a fundamental turning point: his ability to raise awareness within the local community and to create an initial systematic collection led to the establishment of the current Archaeological Museum of San Lorenzo in Campo. His work in ‘spontaneous archaeology’ had the merit of demonstrating the exceptional potential of the Suasan subsoil, prompting the Archaeological Superintendency of the Marche, in the 1960s, to undertake the first institutional interventions aimed at the recovery and consolidation of the Amphitheatre.