La copertura lignea della Chiesa di San Giorgio in Montefalcone a Pavia: studi per il restauro

The foundation date of the Church of San Giorgio in Montefalcone in Pavia is uncertain, but the first known documents date back to the 12th century. The building was significantly renovated in the 16th century. There would seem to be few visible traces of the Romanesque church; among them the mullioned windows of the ancient belfry visible inside the bell tower and brought to light on the outside in a recent restoration. The detailed study of the timber roof of the church, carried out in preparation for a future restoration, has however brought to light that some of the trusses – although heavily modified over the centuries – retain some typical construction characteristics of the roofs of the time, especially in the definition of the joints. In particular, it has been found that the current open-joint trusses have been assembled by re-using the elements of previous closed-joint trusses. The analyzes carried out made it possible to formulate a hypothesis of an ideal reconstruction of the original trusses and to highlight the importance of preserving the timber elements of the roof.