In 1980 the violent earthquake of Irpinia caused huge damage to the villas and destroyed part of the colonnade of the upper peristyle of Villa San Marco. It caused the closure of the excavations to the public. Nevertheless, in 1981 part of the courtyard of Villa Arianna was found, inside which were two agricultural wagons, one of which was restored and put on view to the public. In the rest of the eighties and nineties, only maintenance and restoration works were carried out, except for a few important events, such as the discovery of substructures at Villa Arianna in 1994 and the "gymnasium" in 1997. The archaeological site was reopened to the public in 1995.