Cooperating in the holy land: The study of the ancient mortars of the old city of Akko (Israel)

The report is aimed at describing the study carried out since 2006 by the Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali on the old mortars of the Crusader citadel of Acre in Israel. The investigations have been conducted in collaboration with the Israel Department of Antiquities and it has been the occasion to train up some local operators in the field of restoration by specialistic lessons delivered by Italian and Israeli teachers. More than two hundred collected samples have been studied to identify and classify their constituent materials and their related processes of degradation. The diagnostic research, together with the technical comparison and the study of the sources, contributed to define the most suitable ways of intervention. Moreover this study permitted to understand better the history of the buildings and their typological-stratigraphic classifications in a chronological sequence from the Middle Age to the Ottoman period. By the investment optimization point of view, we tried to supply the instruments necessary to define and understand the old urban fabric and to give meaningful information to the planners and to the workers involved in the conservative projects. The knowledge that this study produced will be useful to the local operators and to all the institution interested in the conservation, restoration and exploitation of the "old citadel of Acre".