Architectural details and monumental buildings at Borysthenes

Author(s): Alla Bujskikh,Dmitrii Chistov / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

Borysthenes encompasses a small number of sites belonging to the period of Greek colonization of the Black Sea region, where monumental buildings with architectural decoration appeared during the 6th century BC. Specific order details are cut from stone; architectural terracotta, imported from Miletus, was also found. They are connected through their common stylistic identity with the Asia Minor architectural school of the Ionic order. These details are attested mainly as constructive parts of monumental altars, and less so as possible parts of temples and other public buildings. The excavations from the last decades permitted to conclude on the existence of the temenos and the public centre included in the regular city plan from the second half of the 6th century BC at Borysthenes. Correlation of architectural details and monumental buildings is still under discussion.

Architectural fragments from Callatis. New discoveries of Doric architecture

Author(s): Letiția Cosnean Nistor / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

Eight Doric architectural fragments have been discovered recently in a rescue excavation campaign in Mangalia, re-used in the structure of an Early Christian cist grave. Their stylistic and morphological characteristics suggest a provenance from the same monument or built environment as the other two known fragments of architrave-friezes, incorporated in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum of Callatis. The inventory of fastening cuttings and tool traces indicated several hypothesis regarding their assemblage and preliminary observations on the architectural characteristics of the provenance monument. The discovery of this homogeneous group of architectural blocks thus confirms and strengthens the perspective of an important Hellenistic Doric monument or architectural ensemble in Callatis, supporting the older hypothesis regarding a dominant presence of the Doric in the left Pontus cities.

Funerary architecture in Alburnus Maior (Roșia Montana): rectangular masonry enclosure

Author(s): Virgil Apostol / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

Twelve rectangular wall enclosures were identified in the Alburnus Maior site, of which six can be reconstructed, being in a better state of preservation. Four precincts enclose small funerary areas covered by an earthen mound, each one designed for a single grave. Two of the larger enclosures describe funerary areas comprising the grave and the commemorative monument. This study analyses their architectural image and presents preliminary data on the built environment of three of the enclosures from theHop-Găuri Necropolis.

Distinctive features of restoration work at Ostia Antica in the first half of the twentieth century

Author(s): Valeria Montanari / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

From the beginning of the last century and up through at least the nineteen-thirties, the archaeological site at Ostia Antica became a place where the latest advances in the field of restoration were applied through original approaches while, at the same time, new and intriguing working strategies were put to the test.All this was the result of a conscious effort on the part of the directors of the excavations that were undertaken over time, starting from the first decade of the twentieth century. Employing the latest methodological developments in their field of study, they addressed topics previously dealt with only in part, such as expanding the concept of safeguarding individual monuments to include their entire surrounding context, or the importance of introducing specimens of vegetation to establish visual links between the various archaeological remains, as well as the resolution of issues having to do exclusively with aesthetics, such as the development of working techniques able to ensure the preservation of the jagged, uneven tops of walls, so as to avoid the decidedly unattractive ‘box’ coverings, or the attention focused on amalgamating the old and the new, in particular regarding the types of materials and the colours used for the newly installed portions. All these solutions have yet to be given adequate consideration by the literature on the subject, even though they constitute an undeniably unique development on the cultural panorama of the time.Finally, the interdisciplinary approach that Giovannoni was so eager to see introduced, “regarding topics having to do with monuments”, was exemplified in Ostia Antica by the fruitful working relationship that joined the archaeologist Guido Calza and the architect Italo Gismondi. Of all the different operational successes obtained, one unquestionable achievement was the emphasis placed on understanding not only the volumetric composition of the architectonic remains brought to light by the digs, but also the process of development that transformed them over the years, as well as what proves to be an especially important consideration when viewed against the backdrop of the activities of the leading figures of that cultural epoch, and namely the relationship of the artefacts with their surrounding environment.

Fragments d'architecture avec images sculptées à Tomis: les Dioscures et Héraclès

Author(s): Monica Mărgineanu Cârstoiu / Language(s): French Issue: 9/2018

L’auteur observe sur les quatre tronçons de futs de colonnes ornés d’images sculptées des Dioscures et d’Héracles découverts a Tomis l’influence de l’architecture orientale pamphylienne. La présence singulière des types de colonnes décorées d’images sculptées est connue jusqu’à présent uniquement à Pergé et permet de formuler une hypothèse sur la filiation directe du type de colonne sculptée de Tomis et l’idée architecturale-symbolique des colonnes de Pergé. Par conséquent on suppose que parmi les marbriers qui ont travaillé pendant le II-IIIème siècle ap. J.-C. á Tomis se trouvaient aussi des pamphyliens. L’image des Dioscures a également été remarquée sur un fragment de linteau évidé et reproduite sur un pilastre en placage taillés en marbre. Sont proposées quelques variantes sur la possibilité d’identifier les ensembles architecturaux d’où sont issus les fragments tomitains.

The 14th century representations of Navicella and the story of the murals from Jelna (Bistrița-Năsăud County)

Author(s): Tekla Szabó / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

A widely publicized event from 2016 was the rediscovery of a fresco representing a Navicella scene at Jelna (hu. Kiszsolna, Zsolna, germ. Senndorf, Romania), a small village near the Transylvanian city of Bistrița (hu. Beszterce, germ. Bistritz, Romania). Bombastic titles, remote from reality, such as “A rare Giotto painting discovered amidst the ruins of a church in Transylvania”, also appeared in the international press.In this article, I will analyse the paintings from Jelna and compare them with the few 14th century examples of Navicella known in Europe, especially with the two other frescoes preserved on the territory of medieval Hungary, with an iconography proving the knowledge of the image represented first in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. At Viştea (hu. Magyarvista, Romania) and Turnišče (hu. Bántornya, germ. Turnitz, Slovenia), near the ship, we have few elements taken from the famous mosaic or its copies: the personifications of the winds, the shape of the mast and a traveller covering his eyes, blinded by the presence of Jesus Christ. Jelna presents most features common with Giotto’s composition, being the first known Navicella reproduction with the Prophets. In all three cases, the image of the donor is placed nearby and in two of them we also find references to places of pilgrimage.The analysed frescoes combine iconographic elements from different sources, creating original compositions, using the metaphor of life as a journey across the sea, and representing the donor’s search for protection during his longer way to Heaven. At the same time, they express fidelity to the Roman Papal See.

The possibility and failure of reconstruction: two case studies of Văcărești and Cotroceni

Author(s): Dan Mohanu / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

Accepted as part of the methodological structure of restoration, the reconstruction of the work of art, in its widest sense, from architecture to objects of mobile heritage, was legitimised either by the recovery of the memory of the destroyed heritage, or by the need of integrity of the image, with its many connotations. Also, the reconstruction has been assimilated, more or less abusively, with the act of fanciful reconstruction, of creative remaking or anastylosis. Stimulated today by the possibilities of endless, performant reconstitutions, by means of virtual space, reconstruction seems to get further and further away from one of the fundamental principles that governs the existence of heritage: the principle of authenticity understood as indestructible relationship between the image and the historicized matter in which it survived. This article analyses the dramatic destiny of the two monuments which were destroyed during the communist regime, the church of the Cotroceni Palace and the Văcărești monastic ensemble, in relation to the genesis of the concept of conservation-restoration of historical monuments in the Romanian space.

Villa Hadriana: a number of methodological queries on preservation and restoration in the field of archaeology

Author(s): Stefano D'Avino / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2018

The paper is meant to address issues relevant to the reinforcement of masonry elements in deterioration, as well as the topic of restoration in the sector of archaeology, drawing its inspiration from two projects carried out by the author, in collaboration with Riccardo d’Aquino, on the major artefacts found at the Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. The work done to reinforce the structures essentially regards four settings: the Hall of the Philosophers, the Maritime Theatre, the Hospitalia and what is referred to as the Libraries. The problem in the first case was the widespread detachment of pieces of brick in the uppermost portion, due to deterioration of the mortar used to lay them, with a number of elements being lost; the problem was countered with thorough joining of the surviving elements, with lime and pozzolana mortar, so as to protect against the infiltration of moisture into the underlying structures, due to renewed damage of the mortar from rainwater. As for the toric vault of reinforced concrete that currently covers a limited portion of the ambulacrum of the Maritime Theatre, the most advisable solution would appear to be demolition of that portion of the vault, to be replaced by a wooden structure capable of having the least possible impact on the vertical elements. The points where the facing has become detached and the gaps between the latter and the core structure of the wall observed near the central door of the Maritime Theatre should be treated with injections of fluid lime and pozzolana mortar ventilated to eliminate the empty spots currently present. Looking at the perimeter wall of the setting known as the Libraries, there are signs that the core portion of the wall is deteriorating, having lost a portion of its brick facing; the restoration project is meant to return the wall assembly “to its original thickness” while, at the same time, installing taut cables anchored to the ground, in order to avoid the risk of any yielding outside of the plane of the wall; this approach ensures the characteristics of reversibility and “minimum intervention”by now considered to be key criteria of any effort of restoration for preservation. Finally, the ceiling of the Small Baths shall be restored with a raised dome of cor-ten steel anchored to the original Roman masonry with steel supports.

Grabstelen mit Bemalung aus Histria und Kallatis

Author(s): Iulian Bîrzescu,Richard Posamentir / Language(s): German Issue: 7/2016

In dem vorliegenden Artikel werden einige Grabstelen aus den Museen von Histria und Mangalia besprochen, die zwar schon langer bekannt sind, deren gemalter Dekor jedoch bislang keine Rolle gespielt hat oder sogar ubersehen worden ist: zum Teil fuhrt deren Entdeckung und Interpretation zu uberraschenden Erkenntnissen. In diesem Zusammenhang ist schlieslich auch die zu Tage tretende Affinitat der westpontischen Stadte zur klassisch-attischen Grabkunst zu diskutieren, denn so wie im nordlichen Schwarzmeerraum finden sich bei den spatklassisch/fruhhellenistischen Monumenten erstaunliche Anklange an Vorbilder aus dem Athen einer etwas fruheren Zeitstellung. Einhergehend ist damit naturlich auch die Aufstellung bzw. der jeweilige Kontext der Stelen und Objekte in den Nekropolen der griechischen Stadte der westlichen Schwarzmeerkuste zu untersuchen.

Dinogetia - About the first archaeological documentation of the ancient site from Bisericuța, Garvăn (com. Jijila, Tulcea County)

Author(s): Cristina-Georgeta Alexandrescu / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

The contribution presents and analyses recently found documentation from the early research of the ancient site identified as Dinogetia, now Bisericuța, Garvăn (com. Jijila, Tulcea County). The author of the documentation is the French architect Ambroise Baudry, a member of the expedition sent in 1865 to study the fortification of Troesmis (Iglița, Turcoaia, Tulcea county), which was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time.

Un souterrain-refuge pour une communauté perseécutée à Istros?

Author(s): Vasilica Lungu / Language(s): French Issue: 7/2016

En 1966, Petre Alexandrescu publiait, en marge d’un groupe important de tombes grecques de la nécropole de la cite d’Istros / Histria, une série importante de trouvailles des époques plus tardives, identifiées a la limite Est de celle-ci, a proximité du lac d’Istria. Parmi les plus intéressantes sont les découvertes localisées dans la zone de tumulus XXVIII, date du Ve s. av. J.-C. et détruit en grande partie par les travaux d’installation d’une construction d’époque protobyzantine, auprès de laquelle a également été fouillée une construction souterraine complexe, de type catacombe, attribuée a l’époque médiévale par comparaison avec les catacombes de l’église de Basarabi.Dans le présent article, nous nous proposons de reprendre cette interprétation, en remontant la chronologie de cette installation à l’époque de Justinien I et en ouvrant la voie à de nouvelles hypothèses concernant la fonctionnalité de la construction souterraine.

The early medieval tesserae from th St. Servatius Church excavations in Maastricht - the Netherlands (1981-1989)

Author(s): Titus Panhuysen / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

In the eighties of the last century a massive excavation was carried out in the Church of St Servatius in Maastricht in the context of an overall restoration of the church building which dates from the 11th to 15th century. The Servatius Church was originally a grave church that was founded in the sixth century by Bishop Monulph of Maastricht creating a pilgrim centre to honour his fourth-century predecessor Servatius, the first Bishop of Tongeren (BE). The excavations have not only brought to light remains of the sixth-century church building of Monulph, but also a hitherto unknown and richly decorated basilica that was in use between c. 650 and 950 A.D. as an abbey church. The diggings were extremely meticulously carried out over 40 connecting excavation trenches and the whole is very well documented and drawn in nearly 374 plans and sections. The digging is done entirely by hand and the soil is sieved dry as much as possible in stratigraphic units. That has resulted in a large amount of dating sherds within a reliable Harris-Matrix. Special material groups were found such as window glass, tesserae (cubical or cuboid mosaic stones) and fragments of wall paintings. The 133 mosaic stones from this excavation will be discussed here within their find contexts, from which something can be deduced about their original use and significance. This article is the result of a presentation during a most important Workshop in Belgium in March 2015 in the former Abbey of Paix-Dieu (Amay, BE) under the title Early medieval tesserae in north-western Europe (VIth-Xth century).

Land demarcation plans, an under-researched documentary corpus

Author(s): Ioana Maria Petrescu,Constantin Bogdan Stanciu / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

The studies pertinent to the rural built heritage should also include, among their research instruments, the land demarcation plans from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries. These mapping documents, hardly ever used in the Romanian research, generally represent the only source of information available amid studies of the long gone or heavily damaged countryside noble courts. The article herein introduces the documentary corpus from the perspective of civil architecture ensembles, thus proving its relevance through several significant case studies.

Internationales Kulturerbe: Architektur des Krieges. Die ehemalige Deutsche Gesandtschaft in Bukarest

Author(s): Hanna Derer / Language(s): German Issue: 7/2016

Jeder bewaffnete Konflikt bestimmt unvermeidlich die kulturelle Identität der beteiligten Parteien. Diese Tatsache wird besonders im Fall der Städte sichtbar die sich sowohl auf konkreten, wie auch auf abstrakten Schlachtfeldern befinden, Verluste erdulden und darauf Wiederaufbauprozessen ausgesetzt sind. Nebst dieser Art Geschehnisse (die im Masstab der gesamten Siedlung stattfinden, sicht - und lesbar sind), greift manchmal der Krieg auch auf banale Immobilien ausschlaggebend ein und bewirkt, dass diese, paradoxerweise (?), (auch) zum gemeinsamen schopferischen Besitztum der Sieger und der Besiegten werden. Die Bukarester Fallstudie welche diese Aussage begründen soll veranschaulicht daher die Weise auf welche gewalttätige Auseinandersetzungendie Gegner, entgegen ihrem Wille, vereint und veranlasst gemeinsam ein Kulturerbe zu schaffen das in gleichem Mas mehreren Staaten, Nationen oder Gemeinden gehört. Eine Wohnung welche die Erfolge ihres Auftraggebers darstellen sollte und also das Gedeihen seiner Familie zu widerspiegeln hatte wechselte den Eigentümer und die Berufung, wurde eine Zeitlang als Residenz eines Botschafters benutzt, um später mit dem eigentlichen Gesandtschaftsgebäude bereichert zu werden. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurde das gesamte Besitztum vom Sieger buchstäblich besetzt und zu einem Kulturzentrum verwandelt, wobei sich jedoch der politische Widerstand subtil in der nun hinzugefugten Architektur spürbar machte. Ein äußerst reicher historischer Werdegang einer einzigen, einfachen Immobilie die schon lange her nicht mehr ausschließlich für Rumänien von Bedeutung ist.

To own - to preserve - to restore

Author(s): Dan Mohanu / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

The issue of the values that heritage, in its wider sense, from built heritage to archaeological object, carries with itself over time is determining for the behavior of heritage owners. Heritage values are at the same time the subject of an instability and of contradictions that are decisive to the often incredible destiny of works of art that follow a sinuous and hazardous road, passing through oblivion, abandonment, lack of recognition, in the aseptic and luminous space of the great values of humanity. Starting from Alois Riegl’s theory of values of built heritage the author presents three examples that illustrate the way in which the trinity to own – to preserve – to restore heritage is understood.

The Phoenician-Punic House

Author(s): Rodrigo Araújo de Lima / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

The current rediscovery of the Phoenician-Punic identity revealed important aspects about this culture’s spatial organization. Many excavations are in progress in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. They share a connection with other Phoenician-Punic settlements in the Mediterranean. In this text, we intend to investigate four Mediterranean areas in which the Phoenician-Punic presence is found: The Levant, The Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and North Africa.

International Colloquia on Roman Provincial Art - Review of the Proceedings 2011 and 2013.

Author(s): Titus Panhuysen / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

Faros i pitagorejska načela urbanog planiranja

Author(s): Jasna Jeličić Radonić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 02/146/2017

Pharos, one of the oldest cities on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, was founded by Parians in 385/4 BC on the site of Stari Grad on the island of Hvar. In spite of the considerable resistance of the Illyrian indigenous people while the city was being founded, the Greek colony was nevertheless established, with the support and assistance of Dionysius of Syracuse. Since the Parians were inclined to Pythagorean philosophy, and since the contact was probably made with Dionysius the Elder via the Pythagoreans, it is essential to look at the planning of the urban space of Pharos in this light. It is known that Hippodamus was Pythagorean and that he introduced Pythagorean number theory into the town planning. This can be seen primarily from an analysis of the plans of the cities organised according to the Pythagorean–Hippodamian principles (Miletus, Piraeus). The characteristically Pythagorean system of town planning, well-adjusted to the tetractys diagram, can be recognised in a rather well explored archaeological sites (Priene). Recent archaeological research in Pharos discovered how urban structure is articulated. The application of numerical principles can be observed in how Pharian residential blocks were conceptualized, revealed in the south-east part of the city. The city, organised according to Pythagorean numerical, became important for accomplishing harmonious system. By construing the urban texture on the basis of the rectangular plots and insula, the harmony based on the principle of proportion and numbers – typical of Greek urban planning and design – was achieved in Pharos.

Grzegorz Podruczny, Król i jego twierdze. Fryderyk Wielki i pruskie fortyfikacje stałe w latach 1740–1786

Author(s): Zbigniew Anusik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

Book-Review: Paweł Nastrożny ̶ Grzegorz Podruczny, Król i jego twierdze. Fryderyk Wielki i pruskie fortyfikacje stałe w latach 1740–1786, Napoleon V, Oświęcim 2013, ss. 427.

HOTELE W PRZESTRZENI MIEJSKIEJ ŁODZI

Author(s): Bogdan Włodarczyk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2015

The article is an attempt to describe the current development level of the hotel base in Łódź – the third largest city in Poland. The analysis deals with both historical and spatial aspects. The detailed analysis of the hotel distribution in Łódź is based on A. Kowalczyk’s (2001a) categorisation of hotel location types in urban areas. The Łódź hotel base is compared with other large cities in Poland.