1st Edition
Natural Stone and World Heritage Itria Valley and Alberobello, Apulia Region, Italy
Apulian limestones constitute the historic building constructions of the Puglia region (in the south of Italy) named trulli (representing an outstanding universal value for UNESCO), but also other stone buildings of the well-known Itria Valley. Trulli are drywall (mortarless) constructions made of roughly-worked limestone blocks collected from neighbouring fields. The limestone for trulli is quarried from different Apulian localities and, together with another local lithotype, represents the stone heritage of the Itria Valley.
This book begins with an introduction to the region of southern Italy where trulli and other typical stone architecture can be found. The Itria Valley with its towns and landscape and the town of Alberobello are described from an architectural point of view. The second section describes the different examples of building constructions in local stone of the Itria Valley, focusing on ancient and contemporary quarries. In this part petrographic and physical mechanical characteristics of the main kind of limestones are reported and discussed. The third part focusses on the main examples of stone architecture of Itria Valley, distinguishing the historical rural buildings from the other historical civil ones. In this section particular attention is given to best practices of evaluation action, protection rules and restauration methods for stone heritage in Itria Valley and Alberobello.
This book serves as a useful source of information to (economic) geologists, archaeologists, architects, historians and stone industry operators specifically, and to academic and non-academic communities, travellers, and tourism industry operators in general. The book will also be interest to students, researchers, and rock enthusiasts spanning all age groups and academic levels.
Chapter 1
1.1 Recognition of heritage stones: UNESCO activities
Rossana Bellopede and Paola Marini
1.1.1 The IUGS Global Heritage Stone Resource and the HerSTONES project
1.2 The extension of the Itria Valley
Paola Marini, Rossana Bellopede and Antonio Merico
1.2.1 The cultural-anthropological relevance of rural buildings in the Itria Valley
1.2.2 Natural stone of the Itria Valley
1.2.3 Geological framework
1.2.3.1 A geologic overview of the Itria Valley
1.3 Archaeological evidence of the territory and historical evolution of the stone landscape
Caterina Annese, Sandra Sivilli and Lorella Lamanna
1.3.1 Evolution of the context from the Middle Ages to the Modern era
Angelamaria Quartulli
1.4. Landscape characters
Angelamaria Quartulli
Chapter 2
2.1 Ancient and actual quarry in the Itria Valley area
Paola Marini, Rossana Bellopede and Antonio Merico
2.2 Main stone buildings technologies and morphotypes of the Itria Valley
Angelamaria Quartulli
2.3 Main lithologies of the area and their properties
Paola Marini, Rossana Bellopede and Antonio Merico
2.3.1 The ornamental stones of the Bari series
2.3.2 Mechanical characteristics of the Bari limestones
2.3.3. The ornamental stones of the Altamura limestone series
2.3.4 Mechanical characteristics of the Altamura limestone
2.4 Laboratory tests on selected Itria Valley samples
Paola Marini and Rossana Bellopede
2.4.1 Petrographic analysis
2.4.2 On-site tests: UPV
2.4.3 Itria valley stones durability: some considerations
Chapter 3
3.1 The architecture evolution in the construction of the current image of the "stone landscape"
3.1.1 Isolated and "trulli" in aggregate. Evolution of the "trullo" as an urban element in relation to the territorial morphology: the case of Alberobello
Angelamaria Quartulli
3.1.2 Evolution of the architectural organism through the different configuration of the roofs from "trulli" to "converse"
Angelamaria Quartulli
3.2 Protection and valorization of architectural stone organisms. Methods of preservation/restoration and safeguard actions
3.2.1 Stone heritage in the Itria Valley from the first safeguards action to the Regional territorial landacape Plan: protection actions for the architectures of rural stone tradition between knowledge and intervention
Angelamaria Quartulli
3.2.2 The case study of Alberobello. From the first protection actions to the UNESCO Management Plan: preservation and enhancement activities
Angelamaria Quartulli
3.2.2.1 Stone and its uses in protection and enhancement actions
3.2.3 Construction techniques and restoration of load-bearing masonry buildings in the Murgia dei Trulli
Piernicola Cosimo Intini and Piero Intini
3.2.1.1 A case study: the restoration of the Church of Santissimo Sacramento in Alberobello
Biography
Rossana Bellopede is enrolled at the Politecnico di Torino as Associate Professor in the scientific sector ING/IND 29 (Raw Material Engineering). She is the author of more than 110 papers published in international journals, conference proceedings and as book chapters with an H index 13. She makes lessons and laboratories of the following courses at the Politecnico di Torino: “Planning of Sustainable Mining”, “Raw and Waste Materials Engineering", "Occupational Safety Engineering ", “Circular Economy in Building and Construction Sector”, “Environmental Management of Soil, Water and Groundwater in Geoengineering”. Her research activity has been developed on recovery and treatment of solid waste focusing also to the safety issues, durability of natural stone, bowing of natural stone slabs, testing to asbestos content measure, detection and recently on identification of microplastics in environmental samples. She is responsible for Marble Laboratory and Multimodal Laboratory at DIATI – Politecnico di Torino. She is expert of Technical Committee of CEN 246 “Natural Stone” inside WG2 “Test Method” and of ISO TC 327 Natural Stones.
She is actively collaborating with the national association in mining sector (ANIM) and in the international association on mineral processing and extractive metallurgy for mining and recycling of raw materials (PROMETIA). She is one of the inventors of a National Patent on the Recycling of the tantalum from the capacitors.
Angelamaria Quartulli is an architect specialized in monument restoration at the "La Sapienza" University of Rome, graduated in public management, studied the issues of consolidation in depth during the training structural and restoration of stone surfaces.
In the roles of the Ministry of Culture since 2012, in recent years she has dealt with architectural protection and landscape of the south-east of Bari, has published numerous essays on the restoration of architectural surfaces and on the image of the city, she directed restoration works especially in the context of the ecclesiastical heritage between the 17th and 18th centuries. She participated in the technical table for the drafting of the territorial landscape plan regional (PPTR).
She dealt with accessibility in historic centers promoting on behalf of the Superintendency in Alberobello a seminar on the topic as part of the celebrations of the UNESCO site and sharing with the Administration operational choices on accessibility in the context of planning the valorisation of the historical routes of the monumental districts currently being implemented.
