TOWARDS BEST RESTORATION PRACTICES: THE RESTORATION BY RISING DAMP OF SAN BASILIO’S CASTLE OF PISTICCI (ITALY)

Founded in the 7th century by the Basilian monks, the fortified farm of San Basilio of Pisticci in the province of Matera (Italy), also known as San Basilio’s castle, had a central role over the centuries both as grange and as coastal watchtower in Basilicata's fertile Ionian coastline. Since 1989, the San Basilio’s castle has been listed as an architectural asset of cultural interest. Today it hosts social events and houses an important collection of artworks and installations of contemporary art. This latter one dates back to the 1960s when the Berlingieri marquises, patrons and lovers of contemporary art, reused some spaces of this ancient and unique building to house the family's important collection of paintings, photographs, sculptures and installations. The entire building complex, characterized by several construction phases, was affected by significant deterioration over the time, due to environmental and construction factors and capillary rising damp. Therefore, various restoration and renovation works have been carried out to preserve the construction itself and the inside collection of artworks. In 2015, six CNT-Domodry devices based on the so-called “Charge Neutralization Technology” were installed to stop rising damp. Nonetheless, despite the stopping of rising damp assured by this effective and not-invasive technology, many rooms, including the exhibition hall areas, are still affected by an advanced state of deterioration due to efflorescence and sub-efflorescence. For this reason and because of its historical importance in the panorama of fortified farms in the Mediterranean, San Basilio’s Castle was chosen as case study of the research activity that aims to critically analyze restoration work, in all the phases that have taken place over the years, with particular attention to the interventions carried out to remove the phenomenon of capillary rising and its effects. The preliminary results obtained allow us to understand the reliability of thermographic analysis as a strategic diagnostic tool to verify effectiveness and durability of restoration interventions and to define good practices aimed at minimum intervention and preventive and predictive maintenance.