Flood hazard threat on cultural heritage in the town of Genoa (Italy)

The threat posed at cultural heritage by flooding is analysed for the historic centre of the town of Genoa. The area is subject to the risk of failure of the urban drainage system due to the lack of defensive and/or preventive structures that are now hardly compatible with the ancient urban texture. An extensive survey of the available records of flooding episodes in the last 100 years was completed in order to derive a map of historically flooded areas. The assessment of the portion of cultural heritage at risk has been performed by comparing such information with the distribution of monuments and buildings presently lying under the protection of the Superintendence of Environmental and Architectonic Heritage of Liguria. Low-cost solutions to the design of suitable preventive structures are proposed, involving technical and functional restoration of the existing underground cisterns of the ancient town. (C) 2003 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.