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The Peripter of Diocletian's Mausoleum / Cathedral of St Domnius in Split: New Conservation-Restoration Interventions
Ana Doljanin
Sažetak
The most prominent phases of spatial development and use of the peripteral space in medieval and modern times record robust interpolations. In the intercolumniation major church dignitaries were buried. Some of the oldest of Split customs unfolded in this area, such as the St Domnius Day procession. When the Chapel of St Matthew was built in the 8th century, the central part of the trabeation of the southern peripter was knocked down, in the 13th century it was the turn of the prostasis, i.e., the vestibule, because of the construction of the bell tower and in the 17th the eastern side, because of the building of the sacristy and the choir. The condition of the building today is rooted in events aimed at purifying the peripter and the cathedral of all later buildings. In spite of such interventions being, even at the end of the 19th and in the early 20th century no longer chiming with the principles of the conservation discipline, the removal was still carried out. By way of result of the purification, on the northern side a view onto the cathedral, that is, the architecture of the Antique mausoleum and periptery, was opened up. Previously, even a great opponent of purification and restoration, Alois Riegl, had said it would be necessary to renovate the peripter if there was a new view onto the cathedral. Because of the opening of the space and of the partially demolished peripter, a continuity was achieved between the masonry mass of the monumental building, making its elongated tambour disproportionate to the whole, i.e., to the original architectural composition. When the Romanesque bell tower was restored around the fin-de-siècle, the peripter, previously integrated into the campanile, was now free-standing, a great risk to structural stability, a risk that has still not been addressed.
The objective of the reconstruction of the peripter started in 2021 was to prevent the collapse of parts of the composition, or indeed of the whole structure, looking ever more likely. This was to be aided by the reestablishment of the original structural value of the peripter. This act of structural consolidation required the restoration of the coffered panels to their original positions, thus concluding the original Late Antique linkage of mausoleum and peripter with the prostasis or vestibule of the shrine, that is, the medieval connection of peripter with Romanesque cathedral tower.
These complex operations were preceded by the production of detailed documentation. An architectural record of the whole and the details of mausoleum/ cathedral was produced, fragments of the coffered panels were scanned and iron clamps were located. After this a conservation-restoration feasibility study was performed, containing an art-historical summary, an analysis of the development of the area, analysis of the state as found, mapping of the items of damage and pollution on the drawings and the production of guidelines for conservation-restoration works. This study comprehended all previous knowledge and research on the topic of the development and function of this area, with interpolations of both sacred and secular structures. An expert understanding was advanced concerning the state as found with the various forms of degradation processes arising out of the interaction of environmental influences, disturbance of structural stability and the natural processes of the aging of materials.
The fragments of the peripter had been displaced which meant that they had to be located, inventoried, measured, scanned, photographed and brought together in catalogue form. Designs and structural engineer’s reports were made, that is, a structural examination of the condition of the construction and a structural calculation were performed, including an analysis of the whole and of each individual part. Not long after this, in December 2021, conservation-restoration works were begun on the northern side of the peripter, including re-integration operations. In the several ensuing campaigns in the years to come almost the whole of the northern side (the north-west, north and north-east of the octagon) was covered by conservation-restoration work, and more than 12 fragments of trabeation and coffered panels were reintegrated by being restored to their original positions.
Ključne riječi
Diocletian’s Mausoleum; peripter; portico; interpolation; re-utilisation purification; conservation-restoration works
Hrčak ID:
330835
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.5.2025.
Posjeta: 57 *