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An urban geomonumental route focusing on the petrological and decay features of traditional building stones used in Madrid, Spain

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Abstract

The stone traditionally used to build cities contributes to their personality and attests to the geological substrate on which they stand. While stone decay in the built heritage can be attributed to a number of causes, anthropic activity has a particularly significant impact. The geomonumental routes project is one of the initiatives proposed in recent years for urban routes that convey geological fundamentals by observing the rocks present in heritage structures. Its innovative approach addresses traditional stone properties, original quarrying sites and mechanisms of decay. Madrid’s Royal Palace is a fine example of the use of traditional building stone in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. In the geomonumental route proposed, the building doubles as an in situ laboratory that affords an overview of the main petrological properties of the two traditional stones most commonly used in the city’s built heritage, the forms of decay they are subject and the factors underlying such alterations. This route constitutes a tool for showing the main petrological features and decay forms in traditional building stones found in urban heritage façades, with a special focus on anthropic impact, primarily air pollution and the use of conservation treatments that time has proven to be unsuitable.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to National Trust and Quijano Company, in particular to Elsa Soria, responsible of the rehabilitation carried out on the Royal Palace façades between 2001 and 2003. Special thanks are given to Geomaterials (P2009/MAT_1629) and CONSOLIDER-TCP (CSD2007-0058) research programmes, and to the Complutense University of Madrid’s research group “Alteration and Conservation of Stone in Heritage” (921349).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Geociencias IGEO (CSIC, UCM), C/José Antonio Novais 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Elena Mercedes Perez-Monserrat, Monica Alvarez de Buergo, Miguel Gomez-Heras, Maria Jose Varas Muriel & Rafael Fort Gonzalez

  2. Facultad Ciencias Geológicas Universidad Complutense de Madrid, C/José Antonio Novais 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Maria Jose Varas Muriel

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  1. Elena Mercedes Perez-Monserrat
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  2. Monica Alvarez de Buergo
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  3. Miguel Gomez-Heras
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  4. Maria Jose Varas Muriel
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  5. Rafael Fort Gonzalez
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Correspondence to Elena Mercedes Perez-Monserrat.

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Perez-Monserrat, E.M., de Buergo, M.A., Gomez-Heras, M. et al. An urban geomonumental route focusing on the petrological and decay features of traditional building stones used in Madrid, Spain. Environ Earth Sci 69, 1071–1084 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-012-2164-3

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