Conclusion of the VeLoCi Project

The 28 February 2026 marked the end of the projects funded under the PRIN 2022 calls. Our project “VeLoCi – The Vesuvian Lost Cities before the ‘Discovery’. Sources, Experience, Imagery in the Early Modern Period”, which began on 17 October 2023, has now officially concluded too.

These two years have been both intense and productive. During this time, the research team worked closely with the territory under investigation through numerous on-site explorations, as well as with scholars and local communities. At the same time, the project opened up to a global context, culminating in the Final Conference “Lost Cities in a Global Perspective: Sources, Experience, Imagery in the Early Modern Period (15th–18th century)”, which provided an opportunity for exchange with the international scholarly community.

Among the project’s main outcomes is the creation of the VeLoCi Database, which currently includes more than 200 entries and a solid structure of internal and external relationships. In addition, the project has carried out numerous dissemination activities, including three Research Workshops and several scholarly contributions presented at international conferences, such as RSA Boston 2025, as well as others forthcoming, and publications in edited volumes and journals, some of which are soon to be published.

The results of the project are available in the Outcomes section of the website, which will continue to be updated, together with our social media channels and the database. Although the project has formally concluded, the research continues: VeLoCi is not an endpoint, but a seed that has already begun to bear fruit.

We thank everyone who has followed and supported us throughout this journey and invite you to continue doing so: the VeLoCi adventure is not over yet!