Canosa di Puglia sotterranea: uso delle calcareniti dalle cave al manufatto

In Apulia and in the easternmost part of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy), widespread deposits of calcarenite rock belonging to the Calcarenite of Gravina Fm. (Pliocene – Lower Pleistocene) crop out. These are porous and soft rocks, characterized by different grain size (from fine to coarse). Due to their workable properties and remarkable availability, this stone, locally known as tufo calcareo, was used in many historic buildings, churches and monuments of Canosa di Puglia. The town presents ruins of ancient exploitation activities and several open and underground quarries, even though the peculiarities of Canosa di Puglia are the “architetture derivate” (Marino, 2006), namely anthropogenic cavities, realized starting from the 10th century B.C. in the upper portion of the calcarenite unit. These ancient structures were used as human settlements, burial sites and storages. At date, this peculiarity of Canosa di Puglia is object of scientific studies and promotional activities, which represent a starting point for safeguarding and valuing this significant Cultural Heritage of Apulia. In this overview, in order to illustrate further evaluations, an overall description of the material, in terms of physical and mechanical properties, decay features and instability phenomena of anthropogenic cavities were reported.