[EN] In the territory corresponding to present-day Liguria, slightly smaller in size than the territorial state built by the famous Maritime Republic of Genoa, there is an abundance of evidence of stone and lime mortar walls, the subject of archaeological investigations. Therefore we have a dated series of wall types that can be placed in relation to the social classes that commissioned their construction, and to their extraordinary mobility in the medieval period. While the built landscape consisted essentially of wood, even in cities, in the early medieval period, between the 10th and 11 th centuries structures in lime mortar began to be built, although limited to the dominant classes: city walls, bishops' residences, and churches. From the mid-12th century, a class of mercatores was formed, who became rich with the Crusades, and these often corresponded to the consular aristocracy. lt changed the face of the city by introducing stonework made of large square blocks, both in their residences (houses and towers) and in collective structures (the city walls and quay). Linked to the work of the magistri Antelami, squared stonework also spread to strategic points in the surrounding territory, becoming the symbol of the Dominant City. Rural signeurships show their resistance to the territorial construction process imposed by the Comune of Genoa, and adopt a completely different kind of masonry in their castles, made up of small wall materials. In the 14th century, the adoption of squared masonry work, from the Antelami school, also extended to rural communities, that began to adopt it in their most important churches or in the first rural houses built of masonry, that are attested since the end of the 14th century.

Actas del congreso Il paesaggio pietrificato. La storia sociale dell’Europa tra X e XIII secolo attraverso l’archeologia del costruito (Arezzo, 7-8 febbraio 2020). Este congreso fue celebrado en el ámbito del proyecto ERC: Petrifying Wealth. The Southern European Shift to Masonry as Collective Investment in identity, c.1050-1300. Este artículo está sujeto a una licencia CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

Peer reviewed