La Sala Rotonda e l’Edificio Rosso. Bilancio e prospettive delle attività della missione italiana a Nisa Vecchia (1990-2004)

The excavations carried out from the 30’s of the 20th achieved exceptional results and started revealing the complexity of the arsacid cultural tradition. After the independence of Turkmenistan new research and excavations have been carried out by soviet and italian expeditions. Even though many question about the punctual destination and chronology of the structures didn’t receive yet exhaustive answer, the new research undertaken are showing important results: in this frame the Italian works of the Centro Scavi di Torino give a contribution to our knowledge of the architecture, art and culture of the Parthian Empire. After the excavations carried out in the Round Hall complex (1990-1999), last campaigns (2000-2004) brought to the light a new monumental building in the central-west part of the tepe, whose features once more confirm the heterogeneous character of the local architecture and art. The so-called Red Building was part of the central huge celebrative complex of the citadel, devoted to a main celebrative purpose: to glorify the royal Arsacids.