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Fig. 3.
The Dionysus’ altar
(photo by R. Netti,
August 2005).
Fig. 4.
The Attalids’ temple
(photo by R. Netti,
August 2005).
Fig. 5.
The excavations that
belong to the agora
(drawing by R.
Netti, M. Gnoni, L.
Mastropasqua, D.
Tinelli, G. Ventura, M.
Zaza, 2005).
In the blocks in which the missing part is too small to allow the use
of stone, mortar is used. Therefore the kinds of mortar used are two:
the support one and the sticking one. The first is weaker, the second
has properties similar to the marble’s.
All the connection components are made of titanium, a material
which was already widely used during the restorations of Athens’
Acropolis. The bars are housed in the cuts and the grooves used by
ancient people, trying not to alter the position and dimension.
The structural project of the connections was realized by Professor
K. Psycharis of the National Technical University of Athens.
The musealization of the archaeological area
The project provides the settlement of the Damtsa excavation, belonging
to the south-east zone of the agorà of Kos, the first establishment
of which dates back to the fourth century BC (fig. 2).
The main criterion assumed for the revival of the archaeological area
is readability. The completion, the revival and the explanation of
the remains inside the site will allow the visitors to understand the
functions associated to the places in the past, from the laboratory
of colours, which found several applications in the life of the city,
to the presence of monuments added in subsequent stages, like the
tholos, etc.
As to the landscape contest, on the other hand, the purpose is to revive
the connection with the little way out archaeological sites, with
special care for the excavation containing the Dionysus’ altar (fig. 3)
and the Attalids’ temple (fig. 4) which, according to archaeological
data, were part of the agora.
Several excavations, among which the very important “Walled
City”’s, belong to the agora, but the reading of the area is obstructed
by the presence of the modern buildings which break up the unitariness
of the original space (fig. 5). Each excavation, therefore,
should be settled so as to be able to restore, at least to a small extent,
the general image of the ancient monument. From this arose the
project choice to restore the second century’s heights, in order to give
a reading order to the area, without however neglecting or hiding the
historical traces belonging to other ages.
The restoring of the ancient floor levels is obtained by using a natural
stabilizing material consisting of small dimensioned gravel, lime
and cement; three colour tonalities of the stabilizing material allow
to chromatically distinguish the aulè’s height (3.05 metres above
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