Evaluation of treatments for the stone of the Córdoba Door of Carmona (Seville, Spain)

Abstract

The Córdoba Door is one of the roman entrances to the old town of Carmona. The Roman part of the monument is built with a calcarenite from quarries near the city. The Door has suffered several interventions in the past, the most important one, dated between 1790 and 1800, is responsible for the exterior structure visible today. The state of conservation of the building has made necessary to restore it. The stone and the rest of building materials are affected by salt crystallization and rising damp. These facts have caused the loss of cohesion of the materials. For these reasons, the application of consolidation treatments, to restore the cohesion to the stone, and water repellent treatments, to avoid the water intake, has been considered convenient. As a part of the previous studies for the restoration works, the laboratory evaluation of the behaviour of some treatment products have been carried out.