Progettare, restaurare, scavare, insegnare la storia: Paolo Verzone e l’apertura internazionale con la Missione archeologica italiana di Hierapolis di Frigia

Designing, Restoring, Excavating, Teaching History: Paolo Verzone and International Engagement through the Italian Archaeological Mission at Hierapolis of Phrygia. Centred on Paolo Verzone, one of the Turin School’s most internationally recognised figures, the chapter reconstructs the intertwined paths of design, restoration, archaeology and architectural history within the Politecnico di Torino. From his early work in Vercelli, including museum adaptation and restoration, to his teaching in Turin and Istanbul, Verzone forged a historical method rooted in direct survey, archival research and fieldwork. His long-term commitment to Turkey culminated in the foundation of the Italian Archaeological Mission at Hierapolis of Phrygia in 1957, which he directed for twenty-five years. The chapter also highlights the extraordinary archival legacy of the Mission: drawings, excavation diaries, surveys and some 15,000 photographs documenting more than four decades of work. Verzone’s legacy continued through Daria De Bernardi Ferrero and a wider school of scholars, restorers, surveyors and archaeologists, for whom Hierapolis became a shared laboratory of interdisciplinary knowledge and architectural education.