habitat rupestre.pdf - Società Friulana di Archeologia

C. Crescenzidecorated with three plain medallions and clipei with carvedcrosses. Other clipei with crosses in relief are at the intersectionof the arms and at the corners of the narthex; the ceilingis sooted, but the red dye of the ochre is still visible in someparts. The capitals on the back wall correspond to the pillarsof the church, and they seem to sustain a missing entablature.They may also be a testimony of the architectural variationsin time.The second narthex has been heavily reworked; it is on thesouthern wall of the church, and it might have been realizedlater breaking down a wall with three niches surmounted byarches. There are still traces of these arches on the wall andon the ceiling; the southern side of the narthex contains wallniches and a floor tomb.Monasteries and churches near OrtahisarThe Hallac Monastery (coord. 38.632327; 34.869779)Hallac Monastery is located to the North-NorthEast of theOrtahisar village, in the area between the road connectingNevshehir to Urgup and Yolu and the one connecting Ortahisarto Nevshehir. The monastery is easily accessible throughan internal road that branches off to the right of the municipalavenue, 500 m before reaching the intersection.The court has partially oxidized pink and cream walls and it iscut into a spur limited by a crown of brown cones.The complex has an open courtyard on the south side on whichnow seven rooms are open on the ground floor and others ona second level. The original core was probably a closed courtwhich was accessed by a narrow passage on the South-Eastedge; the southern front was probably closed by small coneseroded by time. The original ground level of the courtyard iscovered by a 1 - 1.50 m pile of debris.Today, the court disengages four entrances: at North there is athree rooms complex, which is located at the bottom, while atthe top there are openings of unvisited rooms; a church is locatedat east with an inscribed cross plan church with a funerarynarthex; on the eastern side, at the top, there are entrancesto the house of the monks, which were successively used aspigeon house; at West, there are an inscribed cross plan largesquare room and a second room, probably used as kitchen.Fig. 23 Hallach Monastery. General plan. (prof. C. Crescenzi. students credits:S. Camedda, G. Sanità, E. Pollastrini)Fig. 24 Hallach Monastery. Vaulted ceiling of Church n° 1. (photo: C. Giustiniani)The vestibule. The current extent of the court is broader: onthe North side there was a rectangular vestibule (5 m. x 22 m.)giving access to the two complex units. Probably the vestibulewas barrel vaulted, as the East and West sides (the short sidesof the vestibule) suggest. A string-course cornice marked therise of the vault; the remaining walls are marked by blindniches. The East side has three registers with blind niches: themiddle one has a wide overpassed arc (l = 2 m.), while thelateral (l/2), less extensive, has overpassed arches surmountedby a gabled cornice. Similar elements are repeated on the longlateral sides, emphasizing the short one. The lunette above hastraces of the transverse arm of a cross with radial elementsthat depart from the node of the same cross; on the right sidethere is a small rectangular opening that leads into a tripartiteroom, used as a pigeon house after the abandonment. Residualtraces of two-colored decorative elements (red and green)are on the right side of the arched lintel.The West front is characterized by the double square of thelateral specchiature [specchiatura: architectural decoration263volumeRicerca_OK_2012-11-15.indd 263 16/11/2012 15:04:28