Historical and aesthetical values in the conservation of the Ninfa site

The paper provide a critical reflection on the conservation of the archaeological site of Ninfa (LT), a medieval city abandoned in the XVth century, defined by Gregorovius as "the Pompei of the Middle Age", which Brandi has already dealt with on several occasions. Nowadays the site appears as the epithome of an English garden, in which the ruins (boundary wall, remains of churches, etc.) are located. The garden is today the main attraction for tourists, but its vegetation is also the principal cause of degradation for the archaeological ruins. The proposal of this paper is reflecting on theoretical and methodological aspects concerning the site of Ninfa, which Brandi already treated in several occasions. Besides, the aim of this research is delineating an operative proposal that faces the problem on the basis of a value judgement about ‘what’ and ‘why’ preserve.