The Leccese stone and the Carparo

Richness, beauty, solidity, three attributes that best define a material that has made, and continues to make, the history of a place. The Lecce stone, a limestone formation dating back to approximately 21 million years ago, is one of the main stones that make up the architecture of Salento, with a unique structure, color and compactness.

Among the peculiarities of this stone there is undoubtedly the fact that it contains, in the formation itself, fragments of shells, small fossils which enrich the structure geologically, but also clays, quartz which are added to a series of minerals which fortify it and make it even more more fascinating.

A stone widely used above all due to its widespread diffusion and the ease with which it can be worked, as it emerges from the ground naturally and is found throughout the Salento area, in immense quarries up to fifty meters deep.

Among the municipalities in which it is most widespread, Melpignano, Cursi, Maglie and Corigliano d’Otranto stand out, where stones of the main colors ranging from white to straw yellow can be found. Until the mid-20th century, extraction took place entirely by hand, until it changed completely in the last sixty years, with the introduction of modern machinery.

There is another type of rock that is often associated, if not even confused, with Lecce stone. We are talking about carparo, a calcarenitic stone which is very widespread in the areas of southern Salento especially, and deriving from the cementation of limestone rock sediments in a marine environment mostly.

Slangly called “tuff”, it has the ability to take on different aspects on the outside, and is a material widely used in Salento construction, with a tenacious consistency and workable only with a chisel and axe. Its resistance, however, makes it a perfect covering especially for the external facades of buildings, especially for those exposed to bad weather and the corrosive action of salt, if facing the sea.

 

The Vaults and their origin

In the context of wall structures, the vault represented not only the highest manifestation of technical construction skills, but also and above all the culmination of the commitment of the creative faculties and the point of arrival of the primordial search for the most effective system for the horizontal closure of the space. It has constituted a system perfected with the contribution of both individual operational skills and available material. The traditional lack of wood necessary in the construction of flat coverings and roofs has forced the construction of the wall vault, which was also favored by the presence of workers with considerable skill and the availability of a stone that is particularly easy to work and quite resistant.

The construction of the simplest vault, the barrel vault, was nothing other than the repetition of another elementary structure: that of the round arch, which in turn represented the point of arrival of centuries-old experiences that began with the overcoming of the system architrave (two piers and an architrave) conditioned by the weight of the monolithic block. With the experience gained over the centuries, it was understood that the load on the monolithic architrave carried by the masonry above could be attenuated, if not eliminated, with the positioning of cantilevered ashlars (see Lion Gate of Mycenae) practiced, for example , in the roofs of the local trulli (furnieddhi, pajare), without the use of scaffolding (also called “fake arches”).

The round arch had its maximum expansion and diffusion in the period of the Roman Empire and subsequently gave rise to numerous variations and applications, from bridges to aqueducts, to tunnels, with shapes gradually modified until including in the 18th century even the very widespread and typical trefoil arch of Nardò. The Romans loved the barrel vault so much that they built nothing without it, the Colosseum itself, a gigantic and unparalleled futuristic construction for those times, rested entirely on a long chain of barrel vaults which, on several floors, raised a of the wonders of the ancient world. In Lecce, one can observe, through the remains of the Roman amphitheatre, how the rooms, the corridors from one area of the arena to another and each sector of the monument were distributed through the vault.

In Salento there are not many other examples of vaulted buildings still standing that date back to those times. In the 5th century AD we find the Church of Casaranello (Casarano), whose vaults have also been decorated with very precious Byzantine mosaics, which in Italy have comparison only with those of Ravenna.

As the centuries passed, the vault was used not only for churches but also for castles and the noble residences of powerful landowners. This is the case of the Celsorizzo tower, in Acquarica del Capo, inside which there is a completely frescoed barrel-vaulted chapel.

The castle of Gallipoli presents within one of its bastions, one of the most gigantic and majestic vaults in all of Salento, so large that it cannot be photographed in its entirety with a lens.

Even the castle of Otranto, rebuilt in 1481, has an environment created with a reckless vault, the result of great architectural expertise: in this case too, to be able to appreciate it in photos, you need to observe two of them, taken from different angles. An authentic technical masterpiece.

 

Just as the round arch represents the original element of the barrel vault, similarly, the barrel vault represents the basic element of all the variations on the theme that have produced the numerous types of masonry vaults.

From the development of the barrel vault, the pavilion vault and the cross vault follow.

The pavilion vault is born from the union of some portions of the barrel vault, it is generally used for rooms and halls as it lends itself well to being frescoed in an almost continuous manner. The pavilion vault, or with pavilion heads, can be lowered and its central surface made horizontal with a plane that intersects it. This type of roofing, frequently used because it is more suitable for decoration with frescoes, is called a schifo vault, which in Salento has taken the name of a malrotta vault.

The cross vault, already known in Roman times, appears as the intersection of two identical barrel vaults. Two semicircular edges are created in the intrados that go from one corner to the opposite one. These edges can be crossed by a reinforcing rib called a rib, fundamental structural elements of this roofing and not simple decorations.

The local lords who retired to live in the countryside in the 15th century hired the best masters to build their farm, an architectural typology present throughout the province of Lecce, which in some cases represents the pinnacle of the use of the vaults known at the time , such as Masseria Barba ai Monti (Lecce), Masseria Barone Vecchio (Surbo), Masseria Monacelli (Squinzano), Masseria Papa (Lecce), etc.

 

The star vault

Known above all as a corner vault, it is rather recent compared to other vaulted roofs: there are no examples dating back to the 17th century. This type of coverage is typical of Salento, so much so that it is often identified as a vault from Lecce; it originates from the need to adapt the materials available on site to the construction of solid, large and functional, but also aesthetically pleasing buildings. Due to these characteristics, the star vault can very often be found in churches and Baroque buildings in Lecce. Unlike the cross vault, of which it represents the evolution, the weight of the roof is not placed on the perimeter walls, but on four pillars, and the vault becomes more complex, with the addition of more evident ribs, which will give it the typical shape of a stylized four-pointed star. This type of vault is suitable for small to medium sized rooms as the lateral arch, being rounded, would make the structure too high.

The Church was the richest client, so we can admire wonderful vaults, completely frescoed, as inside the incomparable Santa Caterina, in Galatina. Or you can find them increasingly ingenious and effective, as in the Maria Santissima dell’Incoronata church, in Acquarica di Lecce.

 

The square vault, the apotheosis of the vault

While for the corner vault the pillars were made up of a square, in the square vaults the corner pillar has an “L” shape, this is because the relief points of the

vault, which functions in the same way as the previous one, are two for each pillar. In this case an eight-pointed star will be highlighted in the cap (two points per arm). For this reason it is also called “double star vault”. From this it is clear that these vaults were intended for large rooms, where the loads were much greater than the corner vault. Beyond this, the “decorativeness” of this vault when brought into small spaces lost its effect. In fact, the minimum size of the rooms for its use was at least 6.00 x 6.00 m.

 

A curious feature found in the central key of the cap is the “signature” of its maker, usually represented by a cross (given the existing illiteracy) which due to its shape, size and positioning could be traced back to the creator of the artefact. For many, however, it only represents a sign of good wishes for the end of the work and a symbol for the owner that it was time to offer the “capicanal” (final banquet to be offered to the workers, still in use, in many places, even with other types of constructions), and then settle the payments. The protection of the building, however, was entrusted to a holy card brought by the owner and buried either in the foundations or at the base of the hanging.

Then came the stately palaces, such as that of the Castromediano barons, in Cavallino, whose visitor who happens to observe the vault of its large gallery hall cannot help but be amazed by its grandeur, height and artistic beauty! A journey, the one in the artistic vaults of Salento, which still challenges the past and contemporary world today!

Conclusions

The vaults populate the villages of this sunny land, the peasant neighborhoods, the humble country homes, up to the churches and palaces. On the one hand, simple architecture, on the other, monumental, ecclesiastical and noble architecture. Distant worlds, linked by the same creativity that is a fundamental part of these valuable geometric works. There is not only technique in the construction of vaults: there is manual talent, there is organization and also intellect. Behind a building tradition that has marked the residential settlements of the province of Lecce, there are therefore numerous meanings which, in some ways, recall art and anthropology. A typical building artefact fully enters the world of art when its reproduction over time is characterized by the introduction of rules into the production process.

Rules of harmony, measurement, interweaving and specialization and not simple repetitiveness. The mechanism is not that of serial copies, but of a reference model from the past, handed down from generation to generation. Rules therefore that give the construction of vaults beauty and static nature, formal decoration and durability, creative occupation of space and a suggestive image that remains intact over time.

An art which, however, cannot be defined as authorial: it is impossible, in fact, to trace the origin of the vaults, to trace their genesis. There is no name of the first inventor, nor his date of birth, because the star vaults are the result of the experience of a collective subject, of the people, of masters who, over the years, have perfected the technique, protecting it from any degeneration.

The art that evolves over time, improving, also brings with it the traces of the changes of the man of Salento, who has changed his relationship with the earth, with the surrounding environment: hence the link with anthropology, that science that delves into the spiritual and behavioral dimension of man. In distant times it was built for various reasons: to shelter, first of all, but also to raise monuments to the divinities, to give life to rites and liturgies that have made the history of Salento. This still happens today.

Two ways, therefore, to “read” the vaults: as beauties to be admired and as signs of a language to be interpreted.