Una finestra sul cantiere: dinamiche e problemi di messa in opera nel corpo centrale della c.d. stoà-basilica a Hierapolis di Frigia (Turchia)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the so called stoà-basilica in the North Agorà in Hierapolis of Phrygia (Turkey), in particular on the aspects related to the organization of the building site and the implementation of the central body of the building. The complex articulation of the stoà which runs along the eastern side of the big square, created from the Hadrian Age, on has been described in previous studies; the analytic census of the architectonic materials made during the last years allowed for the observing of features and signs of working which indicate, first of all, frequent episodes of fixing testified to by the binders’ housing and by the holes for cramps and dowels. The fractures, having occurred during the phase of the implementation and above all within the bigger blocks, are due to the quality of marble utilized; the necessity to have large quantities of materials at disposals, and of huge blocks, led to the accept even of pieces which would have normally been rejected in the quarry. Another note is related to the operations of assembly and to the use of iron cramps and dowels, concentrated in the building’s foreparts, so as to guarantee stability of the structure. The placement of the materials for which the recognition of the lithotype was arranged, leads to the conjecture that – in contrast to the other stoai in the agorà – the use of different varieties of marble is due to a division of labor, independently of the workshops that completed the decoration.