Characterization of Coimbra’s historic centre coatings and finishes

Abstract eng:
The city of Coimbra was the first capital of Portugal, in the 12th century. This city has archaeological remains from before the Roman time. The existing buildings predominantly date from the 18th century until the present. One of the important marks of the city is reflected in its successive colour plans and materials used in coatings, including mortars and pigments.The main objective of this work is the characterization of the materials that have been applied in several coatings that are still present on the facades of buildings, sometimes in multiple layers. To this end, samples of twenty one habitational buildings were collected, including mortars and paints.The analysis of the mortars reveals the existence of lime with sand sourced from the local river, consisting mostly of quartz, feldspar, mica and some stone particles mixed in proportions of 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. The colours of the buildings have been evolving from a predominance of white to yellow, ochres, orange, red and dark blue. The material used for these colours are essentially hematite for the reds, goethite for the yellow and ochre, calcite for the whites and ultramarine blue (synthetic lazurite) for blue. Recent coatings, from the second half of the 20th century to the present, show the presence of modern materials such as cement and a wider variety of colours, including some red and yellow plastic paint; these types of coatings are incompatible with masonry walls. This study is fundamental for the characterization of this particular historical centre, in order to effectively restore it, with durable materials currently on the market and materials which are compatible with the traditional ones. It is also contextualized in the course of the current application by the University of Coimbra to the World Heritage department of UNESCO.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket