Conservative Restoration of euganean trachyte paving and lighting of Montagnana’s historic arcades
(Padova, Northern Italy)
The project involved the restoration of Montagnana’s historic arcades, paved with large stone slabs (the
“paving stones”) made of Euganean trachyte. The restoration work began in 2013 and lasted until 2014.
The key points of restoration project, based on a rigorous application of the historical-critical approach, are:
metric plotting, typological analysis of the pavement to characterize the geometric profiles, deterioration
analysis; interpretation of iconographic and cartographic documentation; absolutely conservative
approach and minimum intervention: only removal of portions of paving in obvious degrading situations,
integration with recycled materials, construction tradition of “closed dry joint” installation, with the
tiles in continuous contact; the new lighting concept of the arcades with energy-saving LED luminaires:
the small size and the Cor-Ten colour of lighting fixtures and the use of mineral insulated cable ensure
excellent integration in the historical context.