COVID-19 Effects on Cultural Heritage: The Case of Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este

Abstract

The paper aims to provide a clarification of assessing insurance risk related to an asset owned by a subject under public law and, more specifically, to an economic cultural asset. This study is aligned with key aspects proposed by the EU for the protection of the cultural heritage from natural disasters. In the first place, given the peculiarity of the material inherent to cultural heritage, a motivation underlies the search for the correlation between the latter and the commonality. Secondly, it appeared necessary to verify the differences, similarities and importance of the economic management of cultural heritage in order to understand the social, economic, material and intangible importance of an asset managed in an economic way within a social axis (municipality). The third reason relates to the general severity and the risk and subsequent damage that a hazard, such as a pandemic outbreak (COVID-19), can cause on one or more cultural heritage. In the final analysis, perhaps the most meaningful aspect underlies the verification of the possible consequences in the analysis of summations of losses generated by a hazard in order to allow a prospect of what could be the consequences of such a catastrophic scenario.