Porta Rosa in Velia holds a special place in the history of ancient architecture not so much for the earliness of the vaulted structure as for the peculiarity of the obstruction, under scrutiny for a long time. This paper highlights the function and the constructive logic of the infill discovered under the vault, interpreting it as part of the ancient centering with mixed technique, combined with extensive use of earthen mortar and sun-dried bricks; the arrangement of the materials and a channeling at the centering base reveal the care taken in the management of the humidity, which could have caused changes in the support infrastructure, and consequently in the curvature of the vault. The scaffolding involved a limited use of timber, as evidenced by small grooves in the impost and was therefore less expensive and safer than a centering built entirely of wood. Rare examples of sun-dried bricks centering found still in place are known in the ancient Near East and in Egypt, where there are also ventilation tunnels comparable to the canalization that runs through the base of the Velia infrastructure. In the West, during the excavation of some of the oldest vaulted tombs, many sun-dried bricks were found abandoned outside the burials, or stacked in structures of little use: these materials can be explained as parts of the original centerings of the tomb of Philip II in Vergina and other tombs of Salamis of Cyprus and Arpi in Apulia. On the basis of the surviving documentation of 1964-1970, we can hypothesize that only one third of the centering of Velia had been dismantled, but the other two thirds remained in place for safety reasons: the passage of the road from the south was not possible without walls lining of the gorge, as the deepening and regularization cut of the latter had mobilized the slopes. The lower part of the work therefore remained inaccessible, while the upper part fulfilled the function of viaduct and support for an aqueduct. Particularly interesting are the lodgings of dormant wooden beams discovered later in the wall core above the relieving arches: the height of the masonry above the vault has evidently suggested this precautionary measure, which has rare comparisons of the Roman and Byzantine periods but will be widely used in the Middle Ages until the Renaissance.
Terra, mattoni crudi, legno nel cantiere e nella struttura di Porta Rosa a Velia
Elio De Magistris
2023-01-01
Abstract
Porta Rosa in Velia holds a special place in the history of ancient architecture not so much for the earliness of the vaulted structure as for the peculiarity of the obstruction, under scrutiny for a long time. This paper highlights the function and the constructive logic of the infill discovered under the vault, interpreting it as part of the ancient centering with mixed technique, combined with extensive use of earthen mortar and sun-dried bricks; the arrangement of the materials and a channeling at the centering base reveal the care taken in the management of the humidity, which could have caused changes in the support infrastructure, and consequently in the curvature of the vault. The scaffolding involved a limited use of timber, as evidenced by small grooves in the impost and was therefore less expensive and safer than a centering built entirely of wood. Rare examples of sun-dried bricks centering found still in place are known in the ancient Near East and in Egypt, where there are also ventilation tunnels comparable to the canalization that runs through the base of the Velia infrastructure. In the West, during the excavation of some of the oldest vaulted tombs, many sun-dried bricks were found abandoned outside the burials, or stacked in structures of little use: these materials can be explained as parts of the original centerings of the tomb of Philip II in Vergina and other tombs of Salamis of Cyprus and Arpi in Apulia. On the basis of the surviving documentation of 1964-1970, we can hypothesize that only one third of the centering of Velia had been dismantled, but the other two thirds remained in place for safety reasons: the passage of the road from the south was not possible without walls lining of the gorge, as the deepening and regularization cut of the latter had mobilized the slopes. The lower part of the work therefore remained inaccessible, while the upper part fulfilled the function of viaduct and support for an aqueduct. Particularly interesting are the lodgings of dormant wooden beams discovered later in the wall core above the relieving arches: the height of the masonry above the vault has evidently suggested this precautionary measure, which has rare comparisons of the Roman and Byzantine periods but will be widely used in the Middle Ages until the Renaissance.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
