Gallipoli and the history of Carparo, Puglia, Salento by Davide Mengoli

Le Cattedrali di Almifi

Carparo is a calcarenitic stone, deriving from the cementation of limestone sediments, generally in a marine environment. Calcarenite of sedimentary origin is commonly used in Puglia to define it tufo, however being the tufi properly of secondary rocks of volcanic origin, very widespread in Lazio and Campania, it is preferred at the level of technical literature to define it limestone tufo. According to the quality and size of the elementary grains, the quality of the natural binder (calcite) and the final porosity, calcarenite takes on different external aspects and different geotechnical capacities. In the outcrop places, calcarenite can have homogeneous characteristics such as to start an extraction activity for use in the building industry. According to the use made of it in the building sector, four main families of limestone or limestone tuff stand out:
• Mazzara stone, white, brown, yellowish, very tenacious but difficult to work with the traditional tool. In general, it is not quarried unless accidentally;

• the carpara stone, yellow, tenacious, difficult to saw, workable only with ax and chisel. Puglia has numerous carparo quarries, from those with a more coarse and uneven appearance to valuable ones such as the carparo from the Madre Grazia quarries between Alezio and Gallipoli in Salento whose stone is highly sought after for its workmanship and artistic objects;
Due to its good resistance to erosion and good impermeability, it is also used for the facades of buildings and churches, or isolated walls, which often remain with the exposed face of the carparo without further plastering.

Learning to distinguish carparo from tufo, limestone and Lecce stone helps to know the Apulian architecture and Puglia itself. Carparo stone and limestone, spread almost homogeneously throughout the region, form the basis of civil and monumental construction. The use of soft tufo, on the other hand, is linked to local availability and diffusion at sub-provincial level.
You can see buildings in carparo in large quantities walking in the center of Lecce, in the historic center of Gallipoli (see the Cathedral of Gallipoli) or in many monuments in the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto.

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