Experimental characterisation of Romanesque masonries: the reuse of fragments of roman tiles and bricks and the influence of the local costructive tradition

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.