EXPERIMENTAL CHARACTERISATION OF ROMANESQUE MASONRIES: THE
REUSE OF FRAGMENTS OF ROMAN TILES AND BRICKS AND THE INFLUENCE OF
THE LOCAL COSTRUCTIVE TRADITION
Quagliarini Enrico1, Lenci Stefano1, Piattoni Quintilio1, Bondioli Federica2, Bernabei Irene2,
Lepore Giuseppe3, Zaccaria Mirco3
1
Department of Architecture, Buildings and Structures (DACS) - Polytechnic University of
Marche, Via Brecce Bianche - 60131 Ancona, Italy, e.quagliarini@univpm.it; 2 Department of
Material and Environmental Engineering (DIMA) - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via
Vignolese 905 - 41100 Modena, Italy, federica.bondioli@unimore.it; 3 Department of Classical
Archaeology, P.zza S. Giovanni in Monte 2 - 40126 Bologna, Italy, giuseppe.lepore4@unibo.it
Keywords: Romanesque masonries, reuse of Roman materials, experimental analysis.
This research concerned the study of the first constructive phase of the Romanesque masonries of
the S. Maria in Portuno’s church (Fig. 1) at Corinaldo (AN, Italy), by a multidisciplinary approach,
with two main objectives: the first one has been that to guide the future restoration of the
masonries and the second one has been the understanding of the influence of a peculiar
constructive technique, based on the re-use of Roman fragments of tiles and bricks, on the
mechanical behaviour of the masonries.
To reach these main aims experimental investigations have been
carried out by the analysis of the constructive technique, the
chemical-physical analysis of mortars and fragments of Roman tiles
and bricks of the Romanesque walls and by the mechanical
characterization of re-produced walls made by the same materials and
constructive technique of the studied masonries.
The exam of the Romanesque masonries, starting from those parts of
the structures with observable transversal sections, allowed to
describe the used constructive technique with reliability. The
constructive technique is based on the reuse of fragments of Roman
tiles and bricks taken from the pre-existing Roman structure (may be
structures of a productive settlement), now sited in a lower level than
the Romanesque masonries of the church. If the reuse of Roman
materials in the Middle Age was a common practice, the constructive
Fig. 1: The S. Maria in
technique has been considered very interesting due to the peculiarity
Portuno’s church.
of the texture with features of continuity with the local Roman
constructive tradition. In fact the Romanesque masonries are characterised by the presence of two
different layers arranged in alternative mode: the first one is made by fragments of brick and tile
with the edges of larger thickness to the outside; the second one within the internal space of the
first layer, does not have fragments of tile with edges of larger thickness.
The principal results of the chemical and physical analysis showed the nature of the used
materials, the low lime content in the mortar and they confirmed that the fragment of tiles and
bricks, in the Romanesque masonries, have been carried out in Roman age.
Some data of the chemical-physical analysis have been used also to reproduce a mortar similar to
the actual one, used to build walls similar to the original ones, made also by the same fragments of
Roman tiles and bricks. The monotonic and cyclic compression tests carried out on these wall
specimens allowed to investigate the influence of the constructive technology and technique on
their mechanical behaviour.
In conclusion, the results obtained by the chemical-physical analysis will guide the future
restoration of the Romanesque masonries of the church ensuring the compatibility of the new
materials used in the repair with the original ones. The experimental results obtained by
mechanical tests let to increment the actual knowledge on the mechanical behaviour of the
historical masonries, to provide input for the structural analysis on the seismic vulnerability of the
investigated masonries and also to answer to archaeological questions.